1. Meteorological history

2. Preparations and impact

3. See also

4. References

5. External links

Severe Tropical Cyclone Wasa–Arthur was the first major tropical cyclone to affect French Polynesia and Tahiti since the 1982–83 season. The system was first noted on December 3, 1991 as a shallow tropical depression that was embedded within the monsoon trough, to the north of the Cook Island: Rarotonga. Over the next couple of days the system gradually developed further, before it was classified as a tropical cyclone and named Wasa during December 5. The system gradually strengthened further and acquired hurricane-force winds on December 6, as it performed a small clockwise loop. After completing the loop, Wasa moved southwards before it peaked in intensity during December 8, with sustained wind speeds of 165 km/h (105 mph). Over the next few days the system started to weaken as it passed through the French Polynesian Society Islands, and became the first major tropical cyclone to affect French Polynesia since 1983.

During December 12, Wasa passed through the French Polynesian Austral Islands and passed directly over Tubuai, before it degenerated into a tropical depression later that day. However, gale-force winds remained associated with the depression, before the system turned towards the east-northeast and entered into warmer waters near the Tuamotu Islands. During December 14, Wasa regenerated into a tropical depression and was renamed Arthur for various reasons. During that day the system gradually intensified before it reached its secondary peak intensity with sustained wind speeds of 95 km/h (60 mph). During December 15, the system maintained its peak intensity, as it moved through the uninhabited Acteon Group of islands, before during the next day it started to gradually weaken. Arthur degenerated into a shallow depression during December 17, before it was last noted during the next day as it dissipated to the north of the Pitcairn islands.

Tourists on the island of Bora Bora were evacuated to a local church, after Wasa–Arthur had swept high seas into tourist bungalows. Overall the system caused an estimated US$60 million in damage within French Polynesia, with the majority of the damage done between December 9 – 12. The system destroyed or damaged several homes, a variety of crops and damaged several public buildings, hotels, roads and power installations, with the worst affected islands being Bora Bora and Tubuai. On Rurutu island, Moerai harbour was destroyed by a cyclonic swell generated by the system, while the local school and police station were destroyed by high waves. Two people were killed after torrential rainfall from the system caused a mudslide on the island of Moorea, during a night of torrential rain the day after Wasa had made its closest approach to the island. The French Government incurred costs of about FF68 million including FF53 million for the efforts of the French Military. The French Polynesian Government subsequently borrowed FF55 million and built up a fund from local banks of about FF1.5 billion, to help with the reconstruction. The name Wasa was later retired, from the list of tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization.

Meteorological history

During December 3, the Fiji Meteorological Service started to monitor a tropical depression, that was embeeded within a monsoon trough of low pressure over the Northern Cook Islands.^[1] Over the next couple of days, the system gradually developed further as it moved south-westwards, before the Naval Western Oceanography Center (NWOC) initiated advisories on the system and designated it as Tropical Cyclone 07P.^[1][2] Later that day, the FMS reported that the system had developed into a category one tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale and named it Wasa, while it was located about {{convert|250|km|mi|abbr=on|round=5}} to the southwest of the Penhryn in the Northern Cook Islands.^[1] After being named as a tropical cyclone, the system continued to intensify within an area of low vertical wind shear and performed a small clockwise loop, before it was classified as a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale during December 7.^[1]

During December 8, the NWOC reported that Wasa had peaked in intensity with 1-minute sustained wind speeds of {{convert|195|km/h|mph|round=5|abbr=on}}, which made it equivalent to a category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale.^[3] During that day, a westerly wind burst affected the system and as a result, it started to move south-eastwards towards the Society Islands of French Polynesia.^[4] The FMS subsequently reported during December 9, that Wasa had become a Category 4 severe tropical cyclone, as it reached its peak intensity with 10-minute sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph).

Over the next few days the system started to weaken as it passed through the French Polynesian Society Islands, and became the first major tropical cyclone to affect French Polynesia since 1983.^[1] During December 12, Wasa passed through the French Polynesian Austral Islands and passed directly over Tubuai.^[1][5] Later that day, the FMS reported that the system had weakened into a tropical depression, before the NWOC issued their final advisory on Wasa during December 13.^[1][5] However, gale-force winds remained associated with the depression, in particular within the systems southeastern quadrant, the system subsequently turned and started to move towards the east-northeast and entered into warmer waters near the Tuamotus.^[5] the FMS subsequently reported during December 14, that the system had regenerated into a category one tropical cyclone and renamed it: Arthur, for various reasons including operational purposes and to avoid confusion among recipients of their warnings.^[5] During that day the system gradually intensified further, as it passed about {{convert|80|mi|km|order=flip|round=5|abbr=on}} to the north-northwest of the atoll: Mururoa, with the automatic weather station there reporting sustained wind speeds of 70 km/h (45 mph).^[6] At 12:00 UTC, the FMS reported that Wasa–Arthur had re-peaked with 10-minute sustained wind speeds of {{convert|60|mph|km/h|order=flip|round=5|abbr=on}}, which made it a category 2 tropical cyclone on the Australian scale.^[5] During the next day the system maintained its peak intensity and moved through the uninhabited Acteon Group of islands and several other atolls, before as Wasa-Arthur turned eastwards, the NWOC decided to classify the storm as Tropical Cyclone 08P, with peak 1-minute sustained wind speeds of {{convert|85|km/h|mph|round=5|abbr=on}}.^[1][2][7] During December 16, the system started to gradually weaken as it turned more towards the east, before it degenerated into a shallow depression late the next day.^[5] The remnant depression was last noted dissipating during December 18, to the north of the Pitcairn islands.

Preparations and impact

During December 9, ahead of Cyclone Wasa affecting French Polynesia, the High Commissioner Jean Montpezat, declared a state of maximum alert which closed schools and banned navigation.^[8][9][10] On December 12, tourists on the island of Bora Bora were evacuated to a local church, after the system had swept high seas into tourist bungalows.^[11] Overall Cyclone Wasa–Arthur caused an estimated {{ntsp|60000000||US$}} in damage within the six Leeward Islands, the two Windward Islands of Tahiti and Moorea and several of the Austral Islands with the majority of the damage done between December 9 – 12.^[10] The system destroyed 367 homes, damaged 855 other homes, destroyed or damaged a variety of crops and damaged several public buildings, hotels, roads and power installations, with the worst affected islands were Bora Bora and Tubuai.^[1][10] On Rurutu island, Moerai harbour was destroyed by a cyclonic swell generated by the system, while the local school and police station were destroyed by high waves.^[12][13] A women and her child were killed while asleep, after torrential rainfall from Wasa caused a mudslide on the island of Moorea the day after the system had made its closest approach to the island.^[10][14][15]

During the aftermath of the cyclone, a French Military cargo plane and several helicopters carried out initial relief efforts to several of the islands affected by Wasa, before the French Polynesian Government and private cargo ships continued the effort, by carrying emergency relief supplies and reconstruction materials.^[10] The French Government's Minister for Overseas France: Louis Le Pensec arrived in Tahiti on December 15, to inspect the damage and explore ways of rebuilding the island nation, after similar tours were conducted by the President of French Polynesia, Gaston Flosse and several of his cabinet ministers.^[10][16] During the emergency period, the French Government incurred costs of about {{ntsp|68000000||FF}} including {{ntsp|53000000||FF}} for the efforts of the French Military.^[17] The French Polynesian Government subsequently borrowed {{ntsp|55000000||FF}} from the Central Fund for Economic Cooperation and built up a fund from local banks of about {{ntsp|1500000000||FF}}, to help with the reconstruction of infrastructure and territorial buildings.^[17][18][19] The name Wasa was later retired, from the list of tropical cyclone names by the World Meteorological Organization.{{RA V Tropical cyclone operational plan}}

See also

• Cyclone Martin
• Cyclone Oli

References

External links

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