Exceptional Deadly floods killed 5 people and 11 missing in New Caledonia

USPA NEWS - Severe storms and heavy floods hit New Caledonia since Monday 21. Five people, including two children, died and eleven others are missing as a result of landslides in New Caledonia, officials said. Heavy rains have hit the archipelago and mudslides, occurred particularly on the east side.

Severe storms and heavy floods hit New Caledonia since Monday 21. Five people, including two children, died and eleven others are missing as a result of landslides in New Caledonia, officials said. Heavy rains have hit the archipelago and mudslides, occurred particularly on the east side, where it has sometimes fallen to 400 millimeters of rain in twelve hours. It is exceptional since 1997. THE SEVERE STORMS HAVE SPARED NO MUNICIPALITY OF PRECIPITATION FOR TWO DAYS---------------------- No municipality has been spared of precipitation for two days, but the strongest storm cells are found on the chain and on the east coast and the highest cumulative numbers have been recorded since Monday 21. At 11 am this morning, we measured an aggregate of 401.1 mm in 12 hours on the station Méa (on the mountain range)! This cumulation is on average over this area exceeded once every 50 years. These exceptional precipitations led to landslides and extensive damage in the Houïalou and Kouaoua regions. Elsewhere on the chain, there are 256.3 mm measured in 24h at the Aoupinié station at 10 am local time. The east coast is not outdone since a cumulative of 58 mm is raised in 1 hour to Poindimié on the 21 between 22:06 and 23:06 local. These cumulations, less rare, are on average exceeded every 2 years. We have to go back to November 22, 1997 to find a similar episode of heavy precipitation affecting the whole territory one month of November. That day, 337 mm had been relieved in 24 hours at Ponérihouen. Source Meteo France Caledonia.

THE TOLL IS INCREASING AFTER THE SEVERE STORMS STRUCK CALEDONIA The toll is increasing in New Caledonia after the severe Storms struck New Caledonia, according to a provisional assessment. The body of a fifth victim of landslides that occurred Tuesday after violent rains, was found on Wednesday, said the civil security. The President of French Republic expresses his condolences to the families and relatives of the victims and gives his full support to the inhabitants of New Caledonia. Francois Hollande, salutes the work of the rescue teams who are fully committed to dealing with the situation. Few people are still missing and eight have been injured after some places saw 400 millimetres of rainfall in just twelve hours. The President of the French Red Cross delegation in New Caledonia, Jacqueline Johnston, says she's never seen anything like it. Three other people are still missing in the two small Kanake tribes of Gouareu and Ouakaya in Houaïlou, where two landslides occurred early Tuesday morning.------------------------------------------ THE MOST SERIOUS NATURAL DISASTER IN NEW CALEDONIA WITH MORE 400 MILLIMETRES In 12 HOURS It is probably the " most serious natural disaster in New Caledonia" since many decades. On Tuesday, the bodies of an 8-year-old girl and a 60-year-old woman were found in the area of “‹“‹Houaïlou, 235 km northeast of Noumea, on the east coast of New Caledonia. In Ouakaya, a 7-year-old child and a woman in her thirties were also found dead under rubble on Tuesday. Eight people were further injured in the landslides after an exceptional rainfall that spilled no less than 400 millimeters in 12 hours in the Houailou area. "We never knew that. This is the most serious natural disaster in New Caledonia, "said Pascal Sawa, Mayor of Houaïlou. The army, gendarmerie, civil protection teams and the population are mobilized to try to find the three missing inhabitants while the Red Cross and the Catholic Relief help the victims. Source AFP, Meteo France Caledonia, ABC