TITLE:
The Island of Tubuai (French Polynesia) Landfall of Cyclone Oli on the 5th of February 2010
AUTHORS:
Jean-Pierre Barriot, Jonathan Serafini, Keitapu Maamaatuaiahutapu, Lydie Sichoix
KEYWORDS:
Tropical Cyclone Oli, Storm Surge, Precipitable Water, Flooding, Island of Tubuai
JOURNAL NAME:
Open Access Library Journal,
Vol.3 No.5,
May
26,
2016
ABSTRACT: The Island of Tubuai (Australs Archipelago, South Pacific) was directly hit by the tropical cyclone (TC) Oli on February 5th, 2010. For the first time on an island in French Polynesia, we have been able to monitor the progress and the impact of TC Oli as revealed by the meteorological, GPS and sea level pressure data. TC Oli is one of the most intense cyclones that have crossed French Polynesia as evidenced by the pressure level that dropped to 957 hPa associated with wind gusts exceeding 180 km/h. Precipitable water time series deduced from the GPS data shows that the maximum occurred when the cyclone hit Tubuai, at the same time as the maximum of the rain rate. The sea surge reached 1.76 m. A simple model of the flooding of the island shows that our results are consistent with field observations.