After the fear of the tsunami, that of the cyclone.
A level 2 hurricane alert - the highest - will be triggered over the whole of New Caledonia on Saturday morning, due to the passage of Cyclone Niran, civil security announced in a statement.
This Friday, the phenomenon was already generating winds at 170 km / h near its center and gusts at 240 km / h.
The cyclone was located about 750 km west-northwest of the Belep archipelago, in the far north of New Caledonia where a tsunami warning was also triggered this Friday morning after an earthquake of magnitude 8.1 near the Kermadec Islands, without the dreaded wave finally breaking.
Open accommodation centers
“Niran accelerates his race and shifts to the east, south-east.
Over the next 24 hours, this tropical cyclone could reach its peak in intensity with gusts of around 270 km / h near its center, ”Météo France NC reported.
The planned trajectory of #CycloneNiran in the immediate vicinity of # New Caledonia or even in the middle of # Nouméa is very similar to that of cyclone "Erica" in March 2003, 18 years ago.
Still some uncertainties but big impact on NC expected, gusts up to 200 km / h, waves> 6m ... pic.twitter.com/vZHBI4vm9D
- Etienne Kapikian (@EKMeteo) March 4, 2021
Cyclone alert number 2, which recommends staying confined inside homes, will be triggered on Saturday morning at 6 a.m. (8 p.m. in Paris this Friday) in 25 municipalities of Grande Terre and the Loyalty Islands, then it will be extended two hours later to the whole archipelago.
The center of the cyclone should pass a few tens of kilometers northwest of Grande Terre, then graze the southwest coast.
However, the meteorological services do not exclude that it may also cross the archipelago.
Given the heavy rains and the strong winds that are expected, several municipalities, including Nouméa where 10,000 people live in precarious housing, have opened accommodation centers.
The populations living in coastal areas have, moreover, been invited to evacuate, because of the risk of marine submersion.
Domestic company Aircal has also sheltered its four aircraft in Brisbane, Australia.