Heavy rainfall unusual, says Tonga meteorologist [1]
Tuesday, March 27, 2007 - 16:44. Updated on Wednesday, September 17, 2014 - 16:06.
Photos by Pesi Fonua
Heavy rainfall over Nuku'alofa today caused flooding in the capital and forced schools to close early, as school children and pedestrians waded ankle deep in water, while traffic crawled through flooded roads in low-lying areas.
Nuku'alofa recorded about 100 mm of rain during the past 24 hours, from 6 pm yesterday to 6 pm today, Tuesday, March 27.
'Eneasi Havea of the Tonga Meteorological Department said that it is unusual to have heavy rain at this time of the year. "Normally we will have such heavy rain at the end of April, during the changing over of the season, but this shows that the season is changing earlier this year."
But only Nuku'alofa recorded the heavy rain during the past 24 hours. The rainfall at the Fua'amotu International Airport was only 11.4mm.
The heavy down pour in Nuku'alofa about mid-day today flooded the low-lying areas of the capital and most schools in the Nuku'alofa area broke up for the day after lunch.