08th April, 2020 Prime Minister Tu’i’onetoa has declared a State of Emergency today for all land and sea areas of Tonga ahead of TC Harold. The declaration commenced today at 10:00am April 8 and will expire on May 6, unless terminated earlier by the Prime Minister.
Director of Tonga Meteorological Services Mr ‘Ofa Fa’anunu told development partners in a meeting at Fa’onelua Convention Centre that Tongatapu and ‘Eua are “most likely to be affected.”
“If Tongatapu and ‘Eua will be directly hit by TC Harold there will be some structural damage to poor infrastructure.”
He said that TC Harold is likely to downgrade to Category 3 but people should heed the warnings and prepare for the worst.
“The prediction is, the system will decrease to a category 3 passing 110 to 120km West-Southwest of Tongatapu and ‘Eua on Thursday morning. At this point in time, it is best to prepare for a Category 3 cyclone (63-85knots) or equivalent of TC Tino. Currently Severe TC Harold 100knots winds or 200km/h near center.”
Fa’anunu said that storm warnings are now in force for Tongatapu and ‘Eua, gale warnings for Ha’apai and heavy rain warnings and small craft advisory for all of Tonga.
Meanwhile evacuation centres across Tongatapu and ‘Eua are now opened and those who will seek shelter in the centres are being advised by authorities to stay together in family grouping.
CEO for MEIDECC Mr Paula Ma’u said, “Social distancing and mass gathering would be a challenge especially at evacuation centres but we urge evacuees to treat this with reasonable means to accommodate all safely and securely at evacuation centres.”
The night-time curfew is also suspended from 8:00pm tonight to 6:00am tomorrow morning to facilitate the movement of people to evacuation centres if needed.
ENDS
Issued by the: Ministry of Meteorology, Energy, Information, Disaster Management, Environment, Climate Change and Communications.