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Severe Tropical Cyclone Namu was considered to be the worst tropical cyclone to have affected the Solomon Islands on record. On May 15, 1986, a tropical depression formed within the monsoon trough. Located north of the Solomon Islands, the storm steadily intensified while meandering. After briefly moving west, the storm attained Category 2 intensity on the Australian intensity scale on May 18 as it moved through the island chain the next day. Cyclone Namu attained peak intensity of . After keeping peak intensity for a day, Namu turned south and weakened steadily. By May 21, the winds of Cyclone Namu had been reduced to only . Continuing to weaken, Namu turned east and dissipated the next day away from the island chain. The storm's slow motion allowed for prolonged periods of heavy rainfall, resulting in phenomenal flooding across the Solomon Islands. The islands of Malaita and Guadalcanal experienced the most significant damage from Namu. Coastal areas of the former were severely damaged by rough seas and strong winds, especially along the eastern side where entire villages were destroyed. Meanwhile, on the island of Guadalcanal, a village of 43 people had only 5 survivors. Moreover, Cyclone Namu flooded 75% of the Guadalcanal's plains. In addition, 22% of homes were either damaged or destroyed on the island. Across the Solomon Island group, schools, buildings, electricity, water supplies, roads, communication systems, forests, and agriculture sustained widespread damage. In some regions, nearly all homes were destroyed. Mudslides destroyed roads, bridges, water pipes and drainage systems. Crops such as cocoa, copra, coffee, and rice were destroyed. Villages throughout the entire island group sustained severe damage. Overall, approximately 90,000 people, one third of the country's population, were reported as homeless. In all, Cyclone Namu was responsible for at least 150 deaths, mostly from flooding and landslides. Property damage and economic losses across the Solomon Islands totaled $25 million and $100 million (1986 USD) respectively. During the aftermath of the storm, the government of the Solomon Islands declared a national state of emergency. Meanwhile, the United Kingdom, Papua New Guinea, the United States, and Japan also sent supplies and goods to the Solomon Islands. ==Meteorological history== On May 15, 1986, the Fiji Meteorological Service (FMS) started to monitor a tropical depression that developed within the monsoon trough in association with Typhoon Lola about to the north of Malaita. Over the next two days, the system moved towards the southeast before recurving to the southwest as it showed signs of developing further.〔〔(【引用サイトリンク】title=1986 Namu (1986135S07160) )〕 During May 17, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) started to issue warnings on the system, designating it as Tropical Cyclone 33P after the system had developed winds equivalent to a tropical storm. At 2100 UTC that day, FMS named the depression Namu, after it had acquired the characteristics of a tropical cyclone and become equivalent to a modern-day Category 2 tropical cyclone on the Australian tropical cyclone intensity scale with 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 100 km/h (65 mph).〔 During May 18, the system continued to intensify and developed a broad and ragged eye as it moved towards the southwest, before it passed over Manawai around 1400 UTC.〔 Later that day as Namu approached Guadalcanal, FMS reported that the system had peaked in intensity with 10-minute sustained windspeeds of 150 km/h (90 mph), which would make it equal to a Category 3 severe tropical cyclone on the Australian scale.〔 Around this time the JTWC, reported that Namu had peaked with 1-minute sustained windspeeds of about 155 km/h (100 mph), which made it equivalent to a Category 2 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson hurricane wind scale as it moved slowly through the Solomon Islands.〔〔 Namu remained at its peak intensity as it slowly moved away from the Solomon Islands for 24 hours when it moved across 160°E into the Australian region. The next day the system gradually recurved towards the south-southeast while gradually weakening.〔〔 During May 21, Namu moved back into the South Pacific basin. The next day, Namu dissipated north of New Caledonia after it had become sheared within the middle levels of the atmosphere.〔〔〔 抄文引用元・出典: フリー百科事典『 ウィキペディア（Wikipedia）』 ■ウィキペディアで「Cyclone Namu」の詳細全文を読む スポンサード リンク
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