Australia told to brace for intense cyclone/Hurricane season
Pastor Dale Morgan
*Australia told to brace for intense cyclone/Hurricane season*
November 10, 2007 02:36am
Article from: Reuters
AUSTRALIA should brace itself for the worst tropical cyclone season
since 1998/1999, a leading catastrophe forecaster warned today.
Either five or six tropical storms will hit Australia this season, which
lasts from November 1 to April 30, according to a prediction by UK-based
Tropical Storm Risk (TSR).
The Australia region, which includes nearby islands in the southwest
Pacific, is likely to see 13 tropical storms, seven of which will
develop into severe tropical cyclones, TSR predicted.
TSR is a consortium of weather experts at University College London and
the UK's Meteorological Office, backed by insurer Royal & Sun Alliance,
reinsurance broker Benfield Group and claims adjuster Crawford & Company.
The reason for the higher cyclone activity is La Nina conditions in the
tropical Pacific Ocean, pushing sea surface temperatures there to their
coldest since 1999, which helps create above-normal tropical storm
activity, TSR said.
This season will not be as bad as 1998/1999, said TSR, when the region
saw 16 tropical storms, 10 of which developed into severe tropical cyclones.
Tropical storms can wreak havoc.
Tropical Cyclone Larry, which battered northern Queensland in March
2006, left 7000 homeless and 50,000 homes without power.
TSR said it has correctly predicted severe tropical cyclone activity for
the past seasons.