Neu: 2001-12-29 Contents of this issue:
1. Niue Alert 2. Warning Policy 3. Scam Bust ======================================================================== December 29th, 2001 1. Niue Alert: Niue is now on a storm alert as cyclone Waka heads south from Wallis and Futuna. Niue now joins Tonga as a potential target for the cyclone which has winds gusting to 70 knots and is moving south/ southeast at 6 knots. The Niue Disaster Committee has issued a blue alert which advises residents to prepare for storm force winds and high seas. Winds are intially predicted to come from the east and then swing to the north-east. Swells are likely to be four metres high as the storm intensifies. Tonga is expected to feel the brunt of the cyclone tomorrow after noon. At 3 pm Saturday (Niue time) the sea was moderate, there was high cloud with a temperature of 29C and wind at 6knots from the east. <img border="0" src="file:///C:/ius/WAKA%20%20Alert#2.jpg"> 2. Warning Policy: A change of how weather forecasters in the South Pacific define tropical cyclones will mean more cyclones will be declared earlier reports the Fiji Times newspaper.. Fiji's meteorological department director Rajeshwar Prasad said that instead of waiting winds of 63 kilometres per hour to completely surround the centre, the office would make the declaration with winds at 63km/hr ``which are likely to continue.'' "The main reason for the change was to give warning centres flexibility for the naming of those marginal systems as tropical cyclones so as to maximise public preparedness and response,'' Mr Prasad said. The negative aspect of this is that certain sections of the public will need to pay the price for being over prepared for a tropical cyclone. A tropical cyclone can essentially pass over an area without causing damaging winds as such winds may exist in another part of the circulation. "The public needs to be made aware of this as it is used to experiencing at least damaging gale force winds whenever a warning is issued on a named tropical cyclone.'' The revision was agreed during a September regional meeting in Rarotonga, Cook Islands. (PINA Nius Online). 3. Scam Bust: The Cook Islands police may have smashed an international crime ring that has been working across the Pacific Islands, Cook Islands News reported. Plain-clothed officers swooped into an Avarua restaurant and arrested a 34-year-old man travelling on a South African passport, the newspaper reported. The man is believed to have tried to trick wealthy businessmen and church groups out of large sums of money by claiming to be in possession of millions of US dollars in a "micro-film carbonated" form. A search of his room at a hotel on Rarotonga uncovered bottles of chemicals and a suitcase containing apparently false dollar bills with a value of up to US$2 million. Cook Islands News said. Police Commissioner Pira Wichman said the man's passport showed that he had visited other countries, including Vanuatu, Samoa and Fiji, before arriving on Rarotonga on December 4. "We have been in contact with the FBI, the South Pacific International Criminal Information Network and various police authorities throughout the Pacific and the New Zealand serious fraud office," Wichman said. (PINA Nius Online). __END__
