The strong tropical depression Niran, which should turn into a cyclone, will affect New Caledonia, placed on cyclone pre-warning, in the coming hours, the authorities said on Thursday (March 4th).
The phenomenon was Thursday morning about 1,700 kilometers northwest of the far north of New Caledonia that it should graze or strike Friday and Saturday after strengthening to a category 3 cyclone.
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"We must expect a very strong degradation of the weather
(...)
with gusts of the order of 150 to 200 km / h during the day from Saturday or the night from Saturday to Sunday"
, declared to the 'AFP Julien Leduc, forecaster at Météo France NC.
As Niran's trajectory is still uncertain, the region of New Caledonia which will be directly affected is not specified but the authorities expect
"strong waves on the coast and heavy rains, certainly causing flooding"
.
Since Thursday morning, the entire territory has been placed on cyclone pre-alert.
The population is invited to keep informed of the evolution of weather conditions and to secure the buildings.
"New Caledonia has not been affected by a real cyclone for quite a long time, there will be damage"
, also declared Julien Leduc, warning in particular about the power of the winds generated by Niran.
On February 3, New Caledonia, an archipelago in the South Pacific located about 1,500 km east of Australia, was affected by the strong tropical Lucas depression, which caused numerous floods and on the island of Lifou extensive damage to houses and crops.
