Cyclone Heta knocks out food crops in Niuatoputapu [1]
Tuesday, January 13, 2004 - 15:16. Updated on Sunday, May 11, 2014 - 10:56.
Cyclone Heta has left the isolated island of Niuatoputapu with a limited supply of food crops and a lot of damage to infrastructure, after passing within 45 km of the island in the early hours of January 6.
Leveni ...Aho the Deputy Director of the Building Services and Architectural Division of the Ministry of Works & Disaster Relief for Tonga, said they estimated damage to infrastructure of $320,000 pa'anga (about USD160,000) and this figure excluded the crop damage.
Leveni visited the Niuas on January 7 and reported that two houses were completely destroyed, ten homes lost their roofs and many others were partially damaged.
Cyclone Heta brought down fruits, including breadfruit, mangoes, tava, and bananas. Leveni reported that 50 per cent of the root crops were affected and this figure could rise as the burning effect of sea spray on the plants took hold. He estimated that remaining root crops would last only five weeks, before the people ran out of food.
The Deputy Director of the National Disaster Management Office, Maliu Takai, said it may take up to six months for the recovery of the crops. However, the New Zealand government had offered aid of sugar, rice, flour and canned food worth $10,000.
The Ministry of Disaster Relief has shipped on the MV ...Otutonga a number of tents, and the Red Cross has sent tarpaulins.
Maliu said that between 12 midnight to 3 am on January 6 the cyclone was at its closest distance to Niuatoputapu about 45 miles to the North . Nadi Meteorological office predicted that winds of 115 knots to 165 knots would hit the island, but Leveni said that from experience such winds would leave nothing in the island and he thought the winds may have been 30 to 45 knots only.