Cyclone Beni

Cyclone Beni

Severe Tropical Cyclone Beni (RSMC Nadi designation: 06F, JTWC designation: 12P) was an intense tropical cyclone that affected areas of the southern Pacific Ocean, in particular Queensland. The system was the fourth cyclone and the third severe tropical cyclone of the 2002-03 South Pacific cyclone season. Cyclone Beni developed from a tropical disturbance on January 19 south of the Solomon Islands. Originally, the storm moved slowly towards the west. Initially moving towards the west, the cyclone then made a clockwise loop, and turned south. Beni entered more conductive conditions and began to strengthen while moving southeast. After attaning winds of hurricane-force, Beni strengthened rather quickly. Traveling between Vanuatu and New Caledonia, Beni reached its peak intensity on January 29 with winds of 125 mph (205 km/h ), and a peak pressure of 916 mbar (27.0 inHg) before rapidly weakening. The cyclone made its closest approach to the island of New Caledonia on January 30; shortly after that, Beni weakened into a tropical depression. In the Coral Sea, however, the storm once again entered more favorable conditions and it briefly re-intensified into. However, this trend was short-lived; wind shear took its toll on the cyclone, weakening it back down to a tropical depression. The remnants of Beni proceeded to make landfall near Mackay, Queensland and produce heavy rain over much of the drought stricken state of Queensland until finally dissipating on February 5.

The cyclone caused a food shortage and flooded portions of the Solomon Islands. Across the island group, about 2,000 people took shelter, some in caves. In addition, the storm brought storm surge and beach erosion to Vanuatu. New Caledonia faced power outages and heavy rains. In Queensland, Beni was responsible severe flooding. Two communities were isolated during the storm; a total of 160 people were also cut off by floodwater. The water level of one dam increased from 0.5% to 81%. The cyclone's heavy rains helped ease drought problems in Queensland; in fact, water reserves replenished five years worth of supply in one location. In all, one death was reported in Queensland and damages totaled to A$10 million (US$6 million, 2003 USD) in Queensland and US$1 million (A$2 million) in Vanuatu.