Fifth cyclone rises in battered South Pacific

March 6, 2005

A fifth cyclone in four weeks was brewing in the South Pacific Sunday as Cyclone Rae gathered strength west of the already storm-battered Cook Islands, forecasters said.

However, the good news for the Cooks is that Rae, packing winds up to 75 kilometres an hour (46 miles per hour) is expected to stay at tropical storm strength, well below hurricane level.

Rae has developed from the storm system that brought flooding to parts of Fiji and Samoa in recent days and may cause localised flash-flooding in the main Cook Island of Rarotonga.

In the past month, cyclones Meena, Olaf, Nancy and Percy have pounded several Pacific island nations, causing widespread damage to buildings and infrastructure on parts of Tokelau, American Samoa and the Cook Islands.

In the northern Cooks, almost all the houses have been destroyed or badly damaged on the islands of Pukapuka and Nassau, which have a total population of 670.

Cyclone Percy, the most recent cyclone to sweep through the Pacific, remained as a powerful tropical storm in the area causing rough seas, gales and heavy rains for French Polynesia's Austral Group and Rapa Island.

SOURCE: World News & Prophetic Trends