Page 27 - IB November 2023

El Niño El Niño

Source: Fiji Meteorological Service website

and Disaster Management, Sakiasi Ditoka, confirmed with “In West Papua, Indonesia and in Papua New Guinea, El
The impact of Cyclone Ita on Honiara, Solomon Islands in 2014. Photo: Asian Development Bank
Islands Business that the nation is “preparing for category 5 Niño is historically associated with drought-like conditions and
cyclones”. wildfires that can cause considerable damage to grasslands
He said: “I believe we’re doing exactly what we need to be for livestock and disrupt subsistence food supplies, worsening
doing at the moment in preparing for the worst cases. The the already critical acute food insecurity situation,” the WHO
National Disaster Management Office is leading the charge report said.
here. I think the [Fiji] MET office already told us that there’s a The report also warned of an increased risk of transmission
potential for two or more category 3 cyclones coming through of diseases such as Dengue and Zika in PNG, as dry conditions
this season.” are likely to increase mosquito breeding sites.
Ditoka said that the National Emergency Response Team has “With what the science is telling us, it’s going to be a new
been trained and that disaster management systems are in normal for the Pacific to expect and endure more frequent
place. and more severe hazards,” Exsley Taloiburi, Deputy Director
During a virtual session at the recent Pacific Resilience for the Pacific Community’s (SPC) Disaster and Community
Meeting, the Director of Solomon Islands Meterological Resilience Programme told Islands Business.
Service, David Hiba Hirasia, said most flooding in the Solomon “As a regional organisation, we are working to build the
Islands is due to tropical cyclones. capacity and resilience of our Pacific Island countries and
“A classic example is the 2014 flood. The years 2014 and territories to prepare properly for these hazards that they are
2015 were El Niño years. The 2014 flood was due to a low- expecting.”
pressure system [or Tropical Cyclone Ita] that was stationed Taloiburi continued: “We need to take into account the
around Guadalcanal. The impact was huge as 9.2% of the years of traditional knowledge that our communities possess,
country’s GDP was affected,” Hiriasia explained. and how we bridge that together with the technical science
To combat this issue, Hiriasia said the Solomon Islands that our regional organisations are forecasting, is very
Meteorological Service will be issuing early warnings such as crucial… to help us prepare for these different disasters and
“impact-based forecasting for heavy rain, and we also have hazards.”
a National Drought Plan. This is what we’re looking at on the As Islands Business went to press, a drought had been
current El Niño.” declared for Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu as well as the
Meanwhile in Papua New Guinea, latest seasonal forecasts nearby island of ‘Eua with warnings and alerts put out for
indicate a high likelihood of below normal rainfall for the other islands.
country, according to the World Health Organization’s Public
Health Situation Analysis for El Niño for October-December reporter@islandsbusiness.com
2023.

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