disasters and agriculture in the pacific islands - Pacific Disaster Net

possible. In early 1990, the crop on Funafutiwas sufficient to attempt air freight exports tothe Marshall Islands, an effort that howeverproved to be not viable. While kumala is quitetolerant to wind damage, being planted at theedge of the beach makes it susceptible to stormsurge. Most is therefore destroyed in a cyclone.To quote the NDC damage assessment forcyclones Joni, Kina, and Nina on Vaitupu:It is generally regarded that food tree crops near theshoreline and those growing in low elevation areaswith will totally collapse due to flooding of the areawith sea-water. An area of 1,000 square meters ofsweet potato was completely buried in sand from thebeach.Other common crops are bananas, sugar cane,papayas and cabbage. Bananas are regularlygrown around the edges of pulaka pits and inother locations where soil can be found andcompost added. Sugar cane is also grownaround the edge of the pits. Papaya can begrown with the careful addition of soil andcompost. Cabbage, a more recently introducedplant, can be moderately successful with asmall amount of composting. All of these cropsusually have to be replanted after a cyclone.NATURAL DISASTERS IN TUVALUFrequency and intensity of cyclonesAccording to Tuvalu Meteorological Departmentdata, there was an increase in the number ofcyclones between 1970 and 1990, comparedwith the period 1950 to 1970. 122 As well as agreater frequency of severe storms over the lasttwenty years, a notable phenomena has beenthe occurrence of a series of cyclonesoccurring in quick succession, as happenedwith cyclones Joni, Kina, and Nina in 1992-93and Gavin and Hina in 1997. It is difficult toconclude that this reflects a structural changein the frequency of cyclones in the region, forthere are occasional periods of more frequentand severe cyclone activity as happened in thedecade of the 1870s.Damage assessments for two sets of recentcyclones, Gavin and Hina in January 1997 andKeli in June 1997, show that damage fromGavin and Hina was widespread while Keliwas concentrated on the southernmost andsmallest atoll, Niulakita. These three cyclonesfromthe small and concentrated Keli122 Seluka, 1996to the large Gavin-represent a typical range ofsizes and strength of storms and were alsotypical of the quick succession of theseweather systems in recent years. Gavin andHina were typical of 'normal' (that is, non EINino) systems in that they originated close toTuvalu in the normal position of the SPCZ.They were therefore in the beginning stages ofdevelopment and not at their peak strengthwhen they hit. Keli, on the other hand, was a'textbook' EI Nino cyclone-out of season,originating far to the north-east because of theposition of the SPCZ, and at the peak of itsstrength when it reached Tuvalu.The Lands and Surveys Department puts adollar value on various crops, at A$20 for abreadfruit tree, A$15 for pulaka or taro, andA$25 for a coconut tree. These figures areused to impute estimates of damage toagriculture. Obviously these figures mask widevariations in individual damage and value, fora damaged coconut tree is valued at $25regardless of its size or degree of damage. Thisallows the evaluators much opportunity toexaggerate damage and, since there is adefinite incentive to do so, it is possible thatthe overall figures are rather high.Coconuts: In 1997, after cyclones Gavinand Hina, there was 950 damaged treesand, at the official rate of A$25, thisrepresented A$23,750 worth of damage. InJune 1997, cyclone Keli damaged 250 treeson Niulakita, damage estimated at A$3,750worth of damage. (Interestingly, thenumber of trees damaged on Niulakita wasexactly the same after cyclones Gavin andHina.)Breadfruit: Cyclones Gavin and Hinacaused A$2,440 worth of damage tobreadfruit in Tuvalu, involving 144 treesvalued at A$20 each. Given that the 1991census recorded 1,483 households inTuvalu, this equaled to one tree for everyten households. On the outer islands, wherethe custom is more or less maintained ofplanting one breadfruit tree at each cornerof a household property, this damagecaused less of a problem than on Funafuti,where many land-less outer islanders donot have the room (nor possibly the time ormotivation) to plant the same quantity ofbreadfruit trees. On Niulakita, cyclone Kelidamaged five trees, valued in total atA$100, or one tree for every threehouseholds. (No trees were evidentlydamaged there by cyclones Gavin or Hina).Pulaka and taro: Total estimated damage topulaka was valued at A$360,000, a ratherastoundingly high figure mainly due to theloss on Nukulaelae of 20,000 tops, anaverage of more