Cyclone Rewa
Encyclopedia
Severe Tropical Cyclone Rewa was the longest-lasting tropical cyclone
on record within the southern Pacific Ocean
, surviving for 28 days. It was an erratic tropical cyclone that killed 22 people and affected six countries. The disturbance that became Cyclone Rewa was first identified on 26 December 1994, to the south-east of Nauru Island. Over the next couple of days, the disturbance gradually developed while moving to the south-south-west, and it was named Rewa late on 28 December. During the next day, Rewa continued to move towards the south-south-west, moving through the Solomon Islands
before it exited the South Pacific basin. Once in the Australian region, the cyclone continued to intensify and turned southward, paralleling the Australian coast during 31 December. Rewa further intensified over the next two days and reached its initial peak intensity as a Category four tropical cyclone on 2 January. The system maintained this intensity for about 12 hours before it began to weaken due to an increase in wind shear
by 3 January. As the cyclone turned south-eastward, it moved back into the South Pacific basin during 4 January.
It continued to weaken and passed around the south coast of New Caledonia during 5 and 6 January. After affecting New Caledonia, Rewa weakened into a tropical depression and moved towards the north-west over the next few days, before re-entering the Australian basin during 10 January and starting to show signs of reintensification. Over the next few days the cyclone moved towards the north north-west and started to affect Papua New Guinea for the second time before it was renamed Rewa during 13 January while it recurved and started to move towards the south-west. Over the next few days the cyclone continued to move to the south-east towards the South Pacific basin, before as it peaked in intensity on 16 January as a Category 5 Severe Tropical cyclone, Rewa turned and started to move towards the south-west. Over the next few days, the cyclone gradually weakened while it moved towards the south-west and a predicted landfall near Mackay in Queensland. However during 18 January, Rewa interacted with an upper level trough and as a result turned and started to move towards the south-east along the Queensland coast. Rewa then degenerated into an extratropical cyclone during 20 January, with its remnants last noted bringing heavy rain to New Zealand on 23 January.
22 people lost their lives in accidents that were related back to Cyclone Rewa, while it affected parts off the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand. Nine people who were sailing in a banana dinghy to Rossel Island during the height of the system went missing and later presumed drowned after wreckage of their boat turned up on the island without them. Three of the four deaths reported in Queensland, Australia were due to traffic accidents while the other death occurred when a young boy got trapped in a storm water pipe. One death was recorded within New Caledonia while eight deaths were reported on 29 December, from flooding in Papua New Guinea. After this usage of the name Rewa, it was retired and replaced with the name Rene.
(JTWC) started to monitor a tropical disturbance that was located about 575 km (355 mi) to the south-east of Yaren on Nauru
island. Over the next couple of days the disturbance moved towards the south-south-west and gradually developed further before early on 28 December the Fiji Meteorological Service
's Tropical Cyclone Warning Center in Nadi, Fiji (TCWC Nadi), started to monitor the disturbance as a tropical depression. Later that day the JTWC reported that the depression had intensified into tropical storm 05P before TCWC Nadi reported that the system had developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone, and named it Rewa, while it was located about 500 km (310 mi) to the south-east of Honiara
on the Solomon Island of Guadalcanal
. During 29 December the system slowly deepened further, while continuing to move towards the south-south-west and passed through the Solomon Islands
before starting to affect the south-eastern islands of Papua New Guinea
. During that day, Rewa moved out of the South Pacific basin and into the Australian region, with the Bureau of Meteorology
's Brisbane
tropical cyclone warning centre taking responsibility for the system.
Early on 30 December while the cyclone continued to move westwards, TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had intensified into a category 2 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. Later that day the JTWC reported that the system had become equivalent to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale
(SSHS) with 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 120 km/h (75 mph). TCWC Brisbane then reported early on 31 December, that Rewa had intensified into a category three severe tropical cyclone, before the system recurved and started to move towards the south parallel to the Queensland coast. Throughout 31 December and 1 January, Rewa slowly intensified further before it started to rapidly deepen further early on 2 January, as it continued to move towards the south-south-east. Both agencies then reported later that day at 1800 UTC that Rewa had reached its peak intensity, with the JTWC reporting that Rewa had peaked with 1-minute windspeeds of 230 km/h (145 mph), equivalent to a category 4 tropical cyclone on the SSHS. Meanwhile TCWC Brisbane reported that the system had peaked with 10-minute windspeeds of 205 km/h (125 mph) with a central pressure of 920 hPa, which made it a category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian Scale. However during a subsequent reanalysis of the data, TCWC Brisbane lowered their estimate of the wind speed to 175 km/h (110 mph), which made Rewa a category 4 severe tropical cyclone.
Rewa remained at its peak intensity for 12 hours before the system started to weaken during 3 January, as vertical windshear increased over the system. Throughout that day, the cyclone started to move towards the south-east, before it started to take a more eastwards track as it approached 160°E. Rewa then moved back into the South Pacific basin during 4 January, as a weakening category 3 severe tropical cyclone with TCWC Nadi estimating the 10-minute sustained windspeeds at 150 km/h (90 mph). During the next day as Rewa continued to move eastwards, the JTWC reported that Rewa had weakened into a tropical storm, while TCWC Nadi reported that Rewa had weakened into a category 2 tropical cyclone. Later that day, Rewa moved around New Caledonia's south coast passing in between the Grand Terre island and the territory of L'Île-des-Pins
, before passing over the Loyalty Islands
during January 6. As the weakening cyclone then passed near the Loyalty Islands, both the JTWC and TCWC Nadi reported that Rewa had weakened into a Depression, as it started to move towards the north-east. During the next day, Rewa continued moving towards the north-east before it recurved and started to move towards the north-west. Over the next few days the system moved towards the north-west and out of the South Pacific basin during 10 January.
After moving back into the Australian region during 10 January, Rewa continued to move towards the north-west and over the next few days started to show signs of re-intensification. Early on 13 January, the JTWC reported that Rewa had re-intensified into a weak tropical storm near Tagula Island, while TCWC Port Morseby reported that the system had developed into a borderline category 1–2 tropical cyclone and renamed it Rewa. After it had re-intensified into a named storm, Rewa executed a sharp clockwise turn of Tagula Island and started to move towards the south-east while gradually intensifying further. Early on 15 January, TCWC Brisbane reported that the system had become a category 3 severe tropical cyclone again while the JTWC also reported that Rewa had become equivalent to a category 1 tropical cyclone again. During that day, Rewa started to rapidly intensify as an upper level trough approached the system, the JTWC then reported on 16 January at 1200 UTC, that the system had peaked with 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 230 km/h (145 mph). Six hours later TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had peaked with 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 205 km/h (125 mph) which made it a category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale. After it had peaked in intensity the system recurved towards the south-south-west, and started to gradually weaken. By 18 January the JTWC reported that Rewa had weakened into a tropical storm while throughout that day TCWC Brisbane reported Rewa to be a Category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone. During the next day, TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had weakened into a category 2 tropical cyclone as it recurved and started to move towards the south-east about 265 km (165 mi) to the east of Mackay, Queensland. Over the next couple of days the system moved towards the south-south-east along the Queensland coast while maintaining its intensity as a Category 2 Tropical Cyclone. TCWC Brisbane then reported late on 20 January, that the cyclone had weakened into a category one tropical cyclone before during the next day both the JTWC and TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had degenerated into an extratropical depression. As an extratropical depression the system continued to move towards the south-east across the Tasman Sea and entered the South Pacific basin for the third and final time during 21 January. The extratropical remnants of Rewa were last noted on 23 January by TCWC Wellington
bringing heavy rain to parts of New Zealand about 400 km (250 mi) to the east of Wellington, New Zealand.
in the Solomon Islands. Rewa then passed over the southern tip of Malaita Island, before passing to the south of Guadalcanal Island and the north of Renell Island during 29 December. It was estimated by the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service that the cyclone had brought 10-minute sustained windspeeds of between 85 - 120 km/h (50 - 75 mph) to the southern Solomon islands.
Cyclone Rewa started to affect New Caledonia on 4 January, before it passed over Grand Terre
Island during 5 January. Rewa dumped over 300 mm (12 in) of rain on parts of the archipelago which made all off the major rivers overflow and burst their banks leaving several roads closed. Several landslides and 1 death were recorded in New Caledonia while on the loyalty island of Mare
, waves from Rewa partially destroyed the dike
at Tadine
s port.
Cyclone Rewa had no effect on Vanuatu while it passed through the Solomon Islands between 28 - 30 December, however the southern islands of Vanuatu were affected by the cyclone after it had passed through New Caledonia during 5 January. As it moved towards the north-west between 6–8 January, Rewa brought strong winds that were near gale force to parts of the Tafea Province
. Rewa also brought strong north-westerly winds and high seas to Efate Island between 8–9 January as it passed about 175 km (110 mi) to the southeast of Port Vila causing damage to the intertidal zone
of Port Vila
's harbour.
, Rossel and Samarai
islands, while authorities urged people not to go to beaches. As it affected the archipelago, Rewa brought heavy rainfall, high seas, and wind gusts of up to 100 km/h (60 mph) to parts of the archipelago including Sudest
, Rossel and Samarai
islands. The hardest hit areas were communities that lied near major river systems, with the cyclone blocking roads, destroying a church, bridges, homes and gardens with vital crops such as coffee and copra destroyed. In total over 3500 people were made homeless, while 17 deaths were recorded in Papua New Guinea when Rewa was active with 8 of these deaths being caused by flooding. 9 other people went missing while travelling to Rossel island after their boat was caught up in high seas associated with Rewa. They were later presumed dead by the National Disaster and Emergency Service after a local search and rescue mission found wreckage of the boat. On 29 December, the automatic weather station at Jingo
on Rossel island, recorded a minimum pressure of 999.8 hPa (29.5 inHg) at 0600 UTC, before six hours later it recorded a maximum sustained wind of 55 km/h (35 mph).
from which several people had to be rescued from before the cyclone started to move towards New Caledonia during 4 January. As Rewa affected Queensland for the second time, watches and warnings were issued for various parts of Queensland by TCWC Brisbane, who predicted a landfall near Mackay
. On 18 January local disaster committees met to consider evacuating people while people in holidaying in national parks were alerted about Rewa by a helicopter. A military training exercise that was due to take place in Shoalwater Bay
had to be cancelled, with army personal evacuated to Rockhampton
to avoid being cut off by flood waters. Along the coast several ports including Gladstone had to be shut with large vessels told to head to sea and small vessels told to batten down. On 19 January Rewa started to affect Queensland with torrential rain and storm force windspeeds which caused some damage along the coast. However it did not make its predicted landfall near Mackay, and instead recurved to the south-southeast and came within 100 km (60 mi) of the coast. Two men off Yeppoon coast were rescued from a fishing trawler by an army black hawk helicopter after high seas damaged the trawlers propeller and snapped its heavy anchor chain leaving the boat drifting helplessly in the cyclone's path. The worst affected island was Lady Elliot as it bore the brunt of the wind, while on Heron Island, several rare trees and bird rookeries were either destroyed or severely damaged. As Rewa interacted with an upper trough of low pressure on 19 January, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were observed in parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Brisbane received over 144 mm (5.7 in) in just six hours which lead to some flash flooding in parts of the city and four deaths. Three of the deaths were from people crashing their cars, while the other death occurred when a person went surfing Brisbane's flood water and got trapped in a storm drain. Within Brisbane 100 homes and 20 were cars were damaged by the flood waters, while a Sheffield Shield cricket
match between Western Australia and Queensland was delayed after The Gabba resembled a small lake.
Tropical cyclone
A tropical cyclone is a storm system characterized by a large low-pressure center and numerous thunderstorms that produce strong winds and heavy rain. Tropical cyclones strengthen when water evaporated from the ocean is released as the saturated air rises, resulting in condensation of water vapor...
on record within the southern Pacific Ocean
Pacific Ocean
The Pacific Ocean is the largest of the Earth's oceanic divisions. It extends from the Arctic in the north to the Southern Ocean in the south, bounded by Asia and Australia in the west, and the Americas in the east.At 165.2 million square kilometres in area, this largest division of the World...
, surviving for 28 days. It was an erratic tropical cyclone that killed 22 people and affected six countries. The disturbance that became Cyclone Rewa was first identified on 26 December 1994, to the south-east of Nauru Island. Over the next couple of days, the disturbance gradually developed while moving to the south-south-west, and it was named Rewa late on 28 December. During the next day, Rewa continued to move towards the south-south-west, moving through the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
before it exited the South Pacific basin. Once in the Australian region, the cyclone continued to intensify and turned southward, paralleling the Australian coast during 31 December. Rewa further intensified over the next two days and reached its initial peak intensity as a Category four tropical cyclone on 2 January. The system maintained this intensity for about 12 hours before it began to weaken due to an increase in wind shear
Wind shear
Wind shear, sometimes referred to as windshear or wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere...
by 3 January. As the cyclone turned south-eastward, it moved back into the South Pacific basin during 4 January.
It continued to weaken and passed around the south coast of New Caledonia during 5 and 6 January. After affecting New Caledonia, Rewa weakened into a tropical depression and moved towards the north-west over the next few days, before re-entering the Australian basin during 10 January and starting to show signs of reintensification. Over the next few days the cyclone moved towards the north north-west and started to affect Papua New Guinea for the second time before it was renamed Rewa during 13 January while it recurved and started to move towards the south-west. Over the next few days the cyclone continued to move to the south-east towards the South Pacific basin, before as it peaked in intensity on 16 January as a Category 5 Severe Tropical cyclone, Rewa turned and started to move towards the south-west. Over the next few days, the cyclone gradually weakened while it moved towards the south-west and a predicted landfall near Mackay in Queensland. However during 18 January, Rewa interacted with an upper level trough and as a result turned and started to move towards the south-east along the Queensland coast. Rewa then degenerated into an extratropical cyclone during 20 January, with its remnants last noted bringing heavy rain to New Zealand on 23 January.
22 people lost their lives in accidents that were related back to Cyclone Rewa, while it affected parts off the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand. Nine people who were sailing in a banana dinghy to Rossel Island during the height of the system went missing and later presumed drowned after wreckage of their boat turned up on the island without them. Three of the four deaths reported in Queensland, Australia were due to traffic accidents while the other death occurred when a young boy got trapped in a storm water pipe. One death was recorded within New Caledonia while eight deaths were reported on 29 December, from flooding in Papua New Guinea. After this usage of the name Rewa, it was retired and replaced with the name Rene.
Meteorological history
Early on 26 December, the Joint Typhoon Warning CenterJoint Typhoon Warning Center
The Joint Typhoon Warning Center is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force task force located at the Naval Maritime Forecast Center in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii...
(JTWC) started to monitor a tropical disturbance that was located about 575 km (355 mi) to the south-east of Yaren on Nauru
Nauru
Nauru , officially the Republic of Nauru and formerly known as Pleasant Island, is an island country in Micronesia in the South Pacific. Its nearest neighbour is Banaba Island in Kiribati, to the east. Nauru is the world's smallest republic, covering just...
island. Over the next couple of days the disturbance moved towards the south-south-west and gradually developed further before early on 28 December the Fiji Meteorological Service
Fiji Meteorological Service
The Fiji Meteorological Service is a Department of the government of Fiji responsible for providing weather forecasts and is based in Nadi. Since 1995, FMS has been responsible for naming and tracking tropical cyclones in the Southwest Pacific region...
's Tropical Cyclone Warning Center in Nadi, Fiji (TCWC Nadi), started to monitor the disturbance as a tropical depression. Later that day the JTWC reported that the depression had intensified into tropical storm 05P before TCWC Nadi reported that the system had developed into a category 1 tropical cyclone, and named it Rewa, while it was located about 500 km (310 mi) to the south-east of Honiara
Honiara
Honiara, population 49,107 , 78,190 , is the capital of the Solomon Islands and of Guadalcanal Province, although it is a separately administered town...
on the Solomon Island of Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal
Guadalcanal is a tropical island in the South-Western Pacific. The largest island in the Solomons, it was discovered by the Spanish expedition of Alvaro de Mendaña in 1568...
. During 29 December the system slowly deepened further, while continuing to move towards the south-south-west and passed through the Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands
Solomon Islands is a sovereign state in Oceania, east of Papua New Guinea, consisting of nearly one thousand islands. It covers a land mass of . The capital, Honiara, is located on the island of Guadalcanal...
before starting to affect the south-eastern islands of Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea
Papua New Guinea , officially the Independent State of Papua New Guinea, is a country in Oceania, occupying the eastern half of the island of New Guinea and numerous offshore islands...
. During that day, Rewa moved out of the South Pacific basin and into the Australian region, with the Bureau of Meteorology
Bureau of Meteorology
The Bureau of Meteorology is an Executive Agency of the Australian Government responsible for providing weather services to Australia and surrounding areas. It was established in 1906 under the Meteorology Act, and brought together the state meteorological services that existed before then...
's Brisbane
Brisbane
Brisbane is the capital and most populous city in the Australian state of Queensland and the third most populous city in Australia. Brisbane's metropolitan area has a population of over 2 million, and the South East Queensland urban conurbation, centred around Brisbane, encompasses a population of...
tropical cyclone warning centre taking responsibility for the system.
Early on 30 December while the cyclone continued to move westwards, TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had intensified into a category 2 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale. Later that day the JTWC reported that the system had become equivalent to a category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane scale
Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Scale
The Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale , or the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale , classifies hurricanes — Western Hemisphere tropical cyclones that exceed the intensities of tropical depressions and tropical storms — into five categories distinguished by the intensities of their sustained winds...
(SSHS) with 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 120 km/h (75 mph). TCWC Brisbane then reported early on 31 December, that Rewa had intensified into a category three severe tropical cyclone, before the system recurved and started to move towards the south parallel to the Queensland coast. Throughout 31 December and 1 January, Rewa slowly intensified further before it started to rapidly deepen further early on 2 January, as it continued to move towards the south-south-east. Both agencies then reported later that day at 1800 UTC that Rewa had reached its peak intensity, with the JTWC reporting that Rewa had peaked with 1-minute windspeeds of 230 km/h (145 mph), equivalent to a category 4 tropical cyclone on the SSHS. Meanwhile TCWC Brisbane reported that the system had peaked with 10-minute windspeeds of 205 km/h (125 mph) with a central pressure of 920 hPa, which made it a category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian Scale. However during a subsequent reanalysis of the data, TCWC Brisbane lowered their estimate of the wind speed to 175 km/h (110 mph), which made Rewa a category 4 severe tropical cyclone.
Rewa remained at its peak intensity for 12 hours before the system started to weaken during 3 January, as vertical windshear increased over the system. Throughout that day, the cyclone started to move towards the south-east, before it started to take a more eastwards track as it approached 160°E. Rewa then moved back into the South Pacific basin during 4 January, as a weakening category 3 severe tropical cyclone with TCWC Nadi estimating the 10-minute sustained windspeeds at 150 km/h (90 mph). During the next day as Rewa continued to move eastwards, the JTWC reported that Rewa had weakened into a tropical storm, while TCWC Nadi reported that Rewa had weakened into a category 2 tropical cyclone. Later that day, Rewa moved around New Caledonia's south coast passing in between the Grand Terre island and the territory of L'Île-des-Pins
L'Île-des-Pins
L'Île-des-Pins is a commune in the South Province of New Caledonia, an overseas territory of France in the Pacific Ocean. L'Île-des-Pins is made up of the Isle of Pines, the smaller Kôtomo Island, and several islets around these two, as well as the distant island of Walpole, which is located almost...
, before passing over the Loyalty Islands
Loyalty Islands
The Loyalty Islands are an archipelago in the Pacific. They are part of the French territory of New Caledonia, whose mainland is away. They form the Loyalty Islands Province , one of the three provinces of New Caledonia...
during January 6. As the weakening cyclone then passed near the Loyalty Islands, both the JTWC and TCWC Nadi reported that Rewa had weakened into a Depression, as it started to move towards the north-east. During the next day, Rewa continued moving towards the north-east before it recurved and started to move towards the north-west. Over the next few days the system moved towards the north-west and out of the South Pacific basin during 10 January.
After moving back into the Australian region during 10 January, Rewa continued to move towards the north-west and over the next few days started to show signs of re-intensification. Early on 13 January, the JTWC reported that Rewa had re-intensified into a weak tropical storm near Tagula Island, while TCWC Port Morseby reported that the system had developed into a borderline category 1–2 tropical cyclone and renamed it Rewa. After it had re-intensified into a named storm, Rewa executed a sharp clockwise turn of Tagula Island and started to move towards the south-east while gradually intensifying further. Early on 15 January, TCWC Brisbane reported that the system had become a category 3 severe tropical cyclone again while the JTWC also reported that Rewa had become equivalent to a category 1 tropical cyclone again. During that day, Rewa started to rapidly intensify as an upper level trough approached the system, the JTWC then reported on 16 January at 1200 UTC, that the system had peaked with 1-minute sustained windspeeds of 230 km/h (145 mph). Six hours later TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had peaked with 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 205 km/h (125 mph) which made it a category 5 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale. After it had peaked in intensity the system recurved towards the south-south-west, and started to gradually weaken. By 18 January the JTWC reported that Rewa had weakened into a tropical storm while throughout that day TCWC Brisbane reported Rewa to be a Category 3 Severe Tropical Cyclone. During the next day, TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had weakened into a category 2 tropical cyclone as it recurved and started to move towards the south-east about 265 km (165 mi) to the east of Mackay, Queensland. Over the next couple of days the system moved towards the south-south-east along the Queensland coast while maintaining its intensity as a Category 2 Tropical Cyclone. TCWC Brisbane then reported late on 20 January, that the cyclone had weakened into a category one tropical cyclone before during the next day both the JTWC and TCWC Brisbane reported that Rewa had degenerated into an extratropical depression. As an extratropical depression the system continued to move towards the south-east across the Tasman Sea and entered the South Pacific basin for the third and final time during 21 January. The extratropical remnants of Rewa were last noted on 23 January by TCWC Wellington
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited
Meteorological Service of New Zealand Limited was established as a State-Owned Enterprise in 1992. It employs about 215 staff and its headquarters are in Wellington, New Zealand...
bringing heavy rain to parts of New Zealand about 400 km (250 mi) to the east of Wellington, New Zealand.
Preparations and impact
22 people lost their lives in accidents that were related back to Cyclone Rewa, while it affected parts off the Solomon Islands, Papua New Guinea, Australia, New Caledonia, Vanuatu and New Zealand. Nine people who were sailing in a banana dinghy to Rossel Island during the height of the system went missing and later presumed drowned after wreckage of their boat turned up on the island without them. Three of the four deaths reported in Queensland, Australia were due to traffic accidents while the other death occurred when a young boy got trapped in a storm water pipe. One death was recorded within New Caledonia while eight deaths were reported on 29 December, from flooding in Papua New Guinea. After this usage of the name Rewa, it was retired and replaced with the name Rene.Vanuatu, New Caledonia and the Solomon Islands
Cyclone Rewa affected the Solomon Islands between 28 December and 30 December and was the first archipelago to be affected by Rewa. As it developed into a tropical cyclone on 28 December, the system passed to the north of the outer lying atolls of Malaita ProvinceMalaita Province
Malaita Province is one of the largest provinces of the Solomon Islands. It is named for its largest island, Malaita . Other islands include South Malaita Island , Sikaiana Island, and Ontong Java Atoll. The provincial capital and largest urban center is Auki, located on Big Malaita...
in the Solomon Islands. Rewa then passed over the southern tip of Malaita Island, before passing to the south of Guadalcanal Island and the north of Renell Island during 29 December. It was estimated by the Solomon Islands Meteorological Service that the cyclone had brought 10-minute sustained windspeeds of between 85 - 120 km/h (50 - 75 mph) to the southern Solomon islands.
Cyclone Rewa started to affect New Caledonia on 4 January, before it passed over Grand Terre
New Caledonia
New Caledonia is a special collectivity of France located in the southwest Pacific Ocean, east of Australia and about from Metropolitan France. The archipelago, part of the Melanesia subregion, includes the main island of Grande Terre, the Loyalty Islands, the Belep archipelago, the Isle of...
Island during 5 January. Rewa dumped over 300 mm (12 in) of rain on parts of the archipelago which made all off the major rivers overflow and burst their banks leaving several roads closed. Several landslides and 1 death were recorded in New Caledonia while on the loyalty island of Mare
Mare
Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...
, waves from Rewa partially destroyed the dike
Dyke
Dyke or dike may refer to:* A levee, a natural or artificial slope or wall to regulate water levels* A ditch, a water filled drainage trench* A regional term for a dry stone wall...
at Tadine
Mare
Female horses are called mares.Mare is the Latin word for "sea".The word may also refer to:-People:* Ahmed Marzooq, also known as Mare, a footballer and Secretary General of Maldives Olympic Committee* Mare Winningham, American actress and singer...
s port.
Cyclone Rewa had no effect on Vanuatu while it passed through the Solomon Islands between 28 - 30 December, however the southern islands of Vanuatu were affected by the cyclone after it had passed through New Caledonia during 5 January. As it moved towards the north-west between 6–8 January, Rewa brought strong winds that were near gale force to parts of the Tafea Province
Tafea Province
Tafea is the southernmost province of Vanuatu. The name is an acronym for the five main islands that make up the province:1) including Goat Island and Vete Manung Island...
. Rewa also brought strong north-westerly winds and high seas to Efate Island between 8–9 January as it passed about 175 km (110 mi) to the southeast of Port Vila causing damage to the intertidal zone
Intertidal zone
The intertidal zone is the area that is above water at low tide and under water at high tide . This area can include many different types of habitats, with many types of animals like starfish, sea urchins, and some species of coral...
of Port Vila
Port Vila
Port Vila is the capital and largest city of Vanuatu. Situated on the south coast of the island of Efate, in Shefa Province, the city population at last was 29,356, an increase of 55% on the previous census result . This suggests a 2007 population of about 40,000 or around 65% of the province's...
's harbour.
New Guinea
Cyclone Rewa affected Papua New Guinea, on two separate occasions while it was active, with the cyclone first affecting the country between 28 December and 1 January, before grazing the archipelago between 12 and 14 January. Ahead of Rewa affecting the archipelago, TCWC Port Moresby issued cyclone alerts for various parts including SudestVanatinai
Vanatinai or Tagula is a volcanic island in the south-east of the Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The reef fringed island is approximately south-east of New Guinea. With an area of , it is the largest island of the archipelago. Vanatinai town, the main...
, Rossel and Samarai
Samarai
Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Located off the south-eastern tip of New Guinea in the China Strait Samarai has an area of just ....
islands, while authorities urged people not to go to beaches. As it affected the archipelago, Rewa brought heavy rainfall, high seas, and wind gusts of up to 100 km/h (60 mph) to parts of the archipelago including Sudest
Vanatinai
Vanatinai or Tagula is a volcanic island in the south-east of the Louisiade Archipelago within Milne Bay Province of Papua New Guinea. The reef fringed island is approximately south-east of New Guinea. With an area of , it is the largest island of the archipelago. Vanatinai town, the main...
, Rossel and Samarai
Samarai
Samarai is an island and former administrative capital in Milne Bay Province, Papua New Guinea. Located off the south-eastern tip of New Guinea in the China Strait Samarai has an area of just ....
islands. The hardest hit areas were communities that lied near major river systems, with the cyclone blocking roads, destroying a church, bridges, homes and gardens with vital crops such as coffee and copra destroyed. In total over 3500 people were made homeless, while 17 deaths were recorded in Papua New Guinea when Rewa was active with 8 of these deaths being caused by flooding. 9 other people went missing while travelling to Rossel island after their boat was caught up in high seas associated with Rewa. They were later presumed dead by the National Disaster and Emergency Service after a local search and rescue mission found wreckage of the boat. On 29 December, the automatic weather station at Jingo
Jingo
Jingo can refer to:*Jingoism, belligerent nationalism*Jingu of Japan , a legendary empress of Japan*Jingo , from the Discworld series...
on Rossel island, recorded a minimum pressure of 999.8 hPa (29.5 inHg) at 0600 UTC, before six hours later it recorded a maximum sustained wind of 55 km/h (35 mph).
Australia
During the opening days of 1994, Rewa moved southwards parallel to the Queensland coast, however because it was located about 600 km (370 mi) to the north-west of Mackay it was located too far away from the coast for there to be any impact on Queensland. The only impacts reported were a higher surf and long surface wavesSwell (ocean)
A swell, in the context of an ocean, sea or lake, is a series surface gravity waves that is not generated by the local wind. Swell waves often have a long wavelength but this varies with the size of the water body, e.g. rarely more than 150 m in the Mediterranean, and from event to event, with...
from which several people had to be rescued from before the cyclone started to move towards New Caledonia during 4 January. As Rewa affected Queensland for the second time, watches and warnings were issued for various parts of Queensland by TCWC Brisbane, who predicted a landfall near Mackay
Mackay, Queensland
Mackay is a city on the eastern coast of Queensland, Australia, about north of Brisbane, on the Pioneer River. Mackay is nicknamed the sugar capital of Australia because its region produces more than a third of Australia's cane sugar....
. On 18 January local disaster committees met to consider evacuating people while people in holidaying in national parks were alerted about Rewa by a helicopter. A military training exercise that was due to take place in Shoalwater Bay
Shoalwater Bay
Shoalwater Bay is a large bay on the central coast of Queensland, Australia, located 100 km north of the coastal town of Yeppoon and 628 km north-north-west of the state capital, Brisbane. Since 1966, the land surrounding Shoalwater Bay has been under the ownership of the Australian Defence Force,...
had to be cancelled, with army personal evacuated to Rockhampton
Rockhampton
Rockhampton can refer to:* Rockhampton, Queensland is a city in Queensland, Australia* Rockhampton City, Queensland, a suburb of Rockhampton, Queensland* Electoral district of Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia...
to avoid being cut off by flood waters. Along the coast several ports including Gladstone had to be shut with large vessels told to head to sea and small vessels told to batten down. On 19 January Rewa started to affect Queensland with torrential rain and storm force windspeeds which caused some damage along the coast. However it did not make its predicted landfall near Mackay, and instead recurved to the south-southeast and came within 100 km (60 mi) of the coast. Two men off Yeppoon coast were rescued from a fishing trawler by an army black hawk helicopter after high seas damaged the trawlers propeller and snapped its heavy anchor chain leaving the boat drifting helplessly in the cyclone's path. The worst affected island was Lady Elliot as it bore the brunt of the wind, while on Heron Island, several rare trees and bird rookeries were either destroyed or severely damaged. As Rewa interacted with an upper trough of low pressure on 19 January, heavy rainfall and thunderstorms were observed in parts of Brisbane and the Gold Coast. Brisbane received over 144 mm (5.7 in) in just six hours which lead to some flash flooding in parts of the city and four deaths. Three of the deaths were from people crashing their cars, while the other death occurred when a person went surfing Brisbane's flood water and got trapped in a storm drain. Within Brisbane 100 homes and 20 were cars were damaged by the flood waters, while a Sheffield Shield cricket
Cricket
Cricket is a bat-and-ball game played between two teams of 11 players on an oval-shaped field, at the centre of which is a rectangular 22-yard long pitch. One team bats, trying to score as many runs as possible while the other team bowls and fields, trying to dismiss the batsmen and thus limit the...
match between Western Australia and Queensland was delayed after The Gabba resembled a small lake.
See also
- Cyclone Katrina 1997–98 – another erratic tropical cyclone that took a similar path.
- Hurricane JohnHurricane JohnThe name John has been used for six tropical cyclones in the Eastern Pacific Ocean and two tropical cyclones in the Southern Hemisphere. John is not to be confused with Juan, which was used in the Atlantic in 1985 and 2003.In the Eastern Pacific:...
1994 – the longest tropical cyclone on record.