Samoa braces for Cyclone Olaf

Samoa and American Samoa were last night bracing for Cyclone Olaf and winds gusting over 220km/h.

Both nations have declared a state of emergency and villagers were moving to sheltered areas and higher ground.

A second, less powerful storm, Cyclone Nancy, had last night passed the Cook Islands, uprooting trees, damaging roofs and flooding low-lying areas on the atoll of Aitutaki.

New Zealand, Australia, France have formed a task force to prepare emergency supplies for Pacific islands threatened by the cyclones.

Telephone lines into Samoa were last night overloaded, as anxious callers tried to make contact with friends and relatives on the islands.

A New Zealand Telecom operator said she had failed to get through to Samoa once in the course of her shift on Tuesday.

Ian Shepherd, from the Fiji Meteorological Office, said as of 8pm NZT last night Cyclone Olaf was still out to sea north of Samoa, and unlikely to make landfall.

However, severe winds were still expected.

"It is going to come close to American Samoa, and maybe some small islands at the tip of the group."

Though Olaf was likely to miss the main islands, it would still have a "severe impact", he said.

Meanwhile, Cyclone Nancy had passedRarotonga, in the Cook Islands, and was easing in intensity.

There had been predictions that the two storms might merge, but Mr Shepherd said such theories were "pure conjecture".

The Samoan deputy commissioner of police, Vaaelua Remoni, said it was raining hard and getting windy.

Mr Remoni expected the worst about 7pm (today) and said locals were preparing as best they could.

"We are all taking it very seriously."

People had been moved inland from coastal areas.

It was feared Olaf could be similar in impact as the cyclone which left 10,000 people homeless in February 1990.

An Apia supermarket, Lucky Foodtown, kept its doors open until midday and was busy selling rice, canned food and longlife milk.

Supervisor Maggie So'oalo said it appeared to be the only shop open.

"We believe in serving people their needs, but we must close soon as our workers need to go home and look after their places."

In American Samoa emergency shelters were being set up, and schools and government offices remained closed.

High seas with up to 15m surf and coastal flooding were expected.

The assistant chief of police Laumoli Vai told Australian Radio a "war room" had been established with a generator and maps for the water, power, waste water and solid waste systems.

Power in the islands would be shut off at some point for safety reasons.

The southern Cook Islands group took another battering from Cyclone Nancy just a week after Cyclone Meena.

Detective senior sergeant Are Ingaua, of the national emergency centre, said he thought Nancy was worse than Meena as it had caused widespread destruction along the northern and eastern coasts of Rarotonga.

Roads had been flooded, trees uprooted and power lines blown down by winds that gusted up to 185km/h.

"A couple of buildings have been destroyed, roofs have blown off some schools, and in some homes only a concrete slab is left."

By midday yesterday Mr Ingaua said the winds were weakening although the southern island of Mangaia, populated by about 500 residents, was taking a pummelling from high winds, rough seas and heavy rain.

Mr Ingaua said the emergency workers were trying to concentrate on one cyclone at a time. "We are trying to do our best ... it is the first time I have come across three [cyclones] in a row."

Air New Zealand and Polynesia Airlines yesterday cancelled flights to Apia and Rarotonga.

Cyclone science

Q: How do tropical cyclones form?

A: Tropical cyclones form when the tropics are at their hottest and wettest. Evaporation from the ocean provides moist air to create a tropical cyclone.

Q: Why do they happen at this time of year?

A: Sea surface temperatures must be around 27C for a tropical cyclone to form. Currently, sea surface temperatures around Fiji are 1C above normal at 29C.

Q: Why do they always happen around the Pacific Islands?

A: Fiji and Samoa and other islands lie in the South Pacific Convergence Zone, a long, thin stretch of ocean either side of the equator where trade winds blow in opposite directions and collide, forcing air upwards. The convergence zone is a birthplace of showers, thunderstorms and sometimes tropical cyclones.

Q: Can tropical cyclones affect New Zealand?

A: By the time a tropical cyclone reaches New Zealand, the lack of warm air means it loses its cyclone features and becomes a storm. But occasionally these storms retain enough energy to cause serious damage or even death. In April, 1968, Cyclone Gisele produced wind gusts of 270km/h, sinking the Wahine ferry with the loss of 51 lives. In 1996, cyclones Fergus and Drena battered parts of the North Island, ruining the summer holidays for thousands of campers.