Preparations and Impact
| Wettest tropical cyclones in Fiji |
|||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precipitation | Storm | Location | Ref | ||
| Rank | mm | in | |||
| 1 | 755 | 29.7 | Bebe (1972) | Suva | |
| 2 | 615 | 24.2 | Gavin (1997) | Monasavu dam | |
| 3 | 529 | 20.8 | Evan 2012 | Monasavu dam | |
| 4 | 495 | 19.5 | Mick (2009) | Monasavu dam | |
| 5 | 443 | 17.4 | Rae (1990) | Monasavu dam | |
| 6 | 350 | 14 | Tomas (2010) | ||
| 7 | 341 | 13.4 | June (1997) | Monasavu dam | |
| 8 | 311 | 12.2 | Ami (2003) | Taveuni Island | |
| 9 | 293 | 11.5 | Tam (2006) | Rotuma | |
| 10 | 190 | 7.5 | Cliff (2007) | Lakeba | |
As Tam was developing, residents attempted to evacuate the island by plane, with the primary target of Fiji. Only a few flights took off before officials closed the airport, stranding numerous passengers. Late on January 11, RSMC Nadi placed Tonga and Futuna under a tropical cyclone alert and also placed Tonga and Wallis under a strong wind warning. Early the next day RSMC Nadi placed northern Tonga under a tropical cyclone gale warning. Later that morning they canceled the tropical cyclone alert for Wallis and Futuna as Tam was not expected to directly affect Futuna anymore. During that afternoon RSMC Nadi placed Niue under a Tropical cyclone alert, as they predicted that Niue would be affected by Tam within 24 hours. Early on January 13 RSMC Nadi cancelled the tropical cyclone warnings and alerts for Tonga, whilst at the same time placing Niue under a tropical cyclone gale warning, however this gale warning was canceled later that day as Tam moved into the southern ocean.
On January 11, Tropical Depression 04F produced a record 293.2 mm (11.5 in) of rain in a 24 hour span on Rotuma. However, little damage resulted from the heavy precipitation. Cyclone Tam produced heavy rainfall in American Samoa which triggered damaging floods. Several buildings were flooded, and an estimated 70% of the island's crops were destroyed. Sustained winds of up to 55 km/h (35 mph), with gusts reaching 95 km/h (59 mph), tore a few roofs off unsecured homes. Scattered power outages were reported throughout the island. A few landslides were also reported as a result of the storm. Damage from the storm totaled $26,000 on the island. Relatively little damage was recorded in Futuna; there, the storm downed several trees and stranded a yacht on a reef. On Niuafo'ou, a weather station recorded sustained winds of 55 km/h (35 mph) with gusts of up to 75 km/h (45 mph), along with a minimum pressure of 991 hPa (mbar). Minor damage, consisting of fallen branches and isolated power outages also occurred on Niue.
Read more about this topic: Cyclone Tam (2006)
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