Cyclone Percy heads for Northern Cooks by Kirsty McCabe
Tropical cyclone Percy caused widespread damage to the New Zealand-administered atolls of Tokelau on Saturday. One person was seriously injured by flying debris on Fakaofo atoll, which does not have a doctor, and two people had to be rescued after being washed out to sea.
Tokelau's administrator Neil Walters called for food and medical supplies. "There's damage to the infrastructure ... the roads have broken up, the power system is down, a lot of damage to buildings, a lot of equipment lost, boats scattered all over the island, along with debris and building materials and so on," Walters told Radio New Zealand. The only school on the main atoll of Nokonunu was also destroyed.
On Sunday, Percy passed to the northeast of Swain’s Island, the remote northern atoll of American Samoa. Swain’s has been isolated since Cyclone Olaf swept through here two weeks ago, cutting off all communications. American Samoan officials are considering a joint New Zealand-United States operation to re-establish contact and assess the damage. So far, all efforts to contact Swain’s have been unsuccessful.
Percy is now moving away from Swain’s Island and intensifying as it heads southeast towards the Northern Cooks. It is starting to bear down on the two westernmost islands, Pukapuka and Nassau. It is forecast to make a southerly turn imminently, but unless this occurs within a few hours, both islands could get a near direct hit by this major Category 4 storm (5 is the most powerful). If the cyclone does turn to the south, its track will take it between the island of Niue and the Cooks, similar to Olaf’s path.
Authorities in Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, American Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and French Polynesia were urged to continue monitoring Percy's progress in case there was any sudden change of direction.
Hao atoll in French Polynesia is already experiencing heavy and thundery showers courtesy of another tropical depression. In just 30 hours a total of 128 mm of rain has fallen, which is well over half the average rainfall for the whole of February. The depression is not expected to become a cyclone within the next 12 to 24 hours, but authorities are keeping an eye on the system as it may compound the problems resulting from several weeks of heavy rains across the islands this month.
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