There needs to be plans to assist the small island nations of the world.

The Southern Hemisphere is being pummeled by consecutive storms. This image is from NASA and a fourth storm has developed since this picture.

Cyclone Pam (click here) was heading in a southwesterly direction when the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Aqua satellite acquired this image at 1:30 p.m. local time (2:20 Universal Time) on March 13, 2015. Not long after the image was acquired, the storm struck the island of Efate, which is home to Vanuatu’s capital city, Port Vila.

The eastern side of Efate likely took the strongest hit from the cyclone’s eyewall, but Port Vila, which is on the southwestern side of the island, faced extremely destructive conditions. As the storm approached the city, it had sustained winds up to 265 kilometers (165 miles) per hour, making it the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane. Dozens of people are feared dead and forecasters expect flooding and catastrophic damage in the city.

On the same day, another major tropical cyclone—Category 3 Olwyn—made landfall in Western Australia near the city of Carnarvon. The lower image was acquired at 10:55 am local time (2:55 UTC) by the MODIS on NASA’s Terra satellite. Thousands of people in Carnarvon lost power as a result of the storm, which weakened as it pushed inland....

Below is the current satellite. (click here)

Vanuatu needs a rescue mission. They aren't ready for anything that even comes close to a Category 5 cyclone. Why weren't they evacuated or at least provided some kind of shelter?

Evacuations of these small islands isn't that difficult. They don't have to be removed to a different land mass, they simply need to be put on Navy Ships until the storm passes over. Once they are returned to their island a crew can accompany them with food and supplies. Please. There are children.

A humanitarian operation has to be carried out ASAP when cyclones are first picked up on radar. No Navy should put themselves in the way of such a storm, so any rescue BEFORE THE FACT has to occur. But, it doesn't matter if it is only a tropical storm, they can't sustain for long even with a minor storm.


CYCLONE Pam has intensified as it hits Vanuatu, with dozens feared dead in the outer islands.(click here)

This is Australia after Cyclone Olwyn blew throught. It was a Category 3 when this occurred.

March 13, 2015
The Bureau of Meteorology (BoM) (click here) is also warning of a very dangerous storm tide for residents between Carnarvon and Denham.
The Department of Fire and Emergency Services (DFES) has confirmed there have been reports of damage to homes in Carnarvon but has been unable to send crews out to assess the damage because of strong winds.

Storm surges are more dangerous than a low category storm because of sea level rise. 

I don't know how realistic it is to move an entire nation of people to Navy ships, but, Vanuatu Island has approximately 250,000 people.  They never asked for this and have no idea how to save their own lives.

I guess not.

Royal Caribbean International on Monday ordered the world’s largest and most expensive cruise ship, a $1.24 billion vessel that will hold up to 6,400 passengers.

New Zealand is already being effected. Expect Pam to be a strong storm. It has a high rain content as well. Over ten years ago a cyclone traversed the circumpolar circulation to land directly on the Antarctica peninsula. There were huge amounts of ice both surface and sub-aquatic destroyed and melted. 

Normally, storms lose their punch at higher latitudes, but, don't count on it. I have seen differently. I think the year was 2002 or 2003. 

NASA has records of it.

March 13, 2015

..."There's still a fair (click here) bit of uncertainty as to how that system will move. But it does look like we are going to find some pretty damaging conditions as we head through to the start of next week," meteorologist John Law told TV3 this morning.

MetService Meteorologist Georgina Griffiths last night said the eastern North Island could possibly get "the full trifecta" of impacts, these being damaging seas along the eastern coastline, gale to severe gale south-easterly winds, and the possibility of heavy rain.

WeatherWatch.co.nz reported yesterday evening that winds around the upper North Island, north of Auckland, were already caught up in the flow of Cyclone Pam, a few thousand km away.,,