Cyclone Lola leaves behind 'major' damage in Vanuatu in the South Pacific

Bill Deger
·4 min read

Cyclone Lola was bearing down on Vanuatu on Tuesday, Oct. 24, 2023. (AccuWeather Enhanced RealVue™ Satellite)

Severe Cyclone Lola, packing winds equivalent to that of a major hurricane, rolled through Vanuatu in the Pacific Ocean earlier this week, leaving behind a trail of destruction. Now a tropical rainstorm, AccuWeather hurricane experts expect some impacts from the storm in New Zealand into early next week.

No casualties were reported in Vanuatu, an archipelago of islands located in the South Pacific about 1,090 miles (1,750 km) to the east of northern Australia, as Lola moved through on Tuesday and Wednesday; however, numerous homes were destroyed on Pentecost Island, according to Radio New Zealand (RNZ).

The Vanuatu Meteorology Department said Lola's central winds were estimated to be over 100 mph (165 km/hr) on Tuesday before it impacted the country, making it the equivalent of a major Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind Scale (SSHWS). By Friday, local time, Lola was classified as a tropical rainstorm, but the system is still expected to bring rain and wind impacts to others in the South Pacific through next Tuesday.

On Thursday morning, local time, Vanuatu's National Disaster Management Office issued an "all clear" for the country in the wake of Lola in order to start the assessment and disaster relief process.

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Initial reports from the island indicate "major" damage from the storm's ferocious winds. Those reports were spotty due to a loss of communications on the islands, but local officials told RNZ that homes, schools and plantations were destroyed and that the central provinces of Penama and Malampa were the most affected. No casualties have yet been reported.

The International Federation of the Red Cross said in a press release that they were ready to mobilize support in the country. They also noted in the release that Lola had just sent an 'early warning' shot for this cyclone season to the country and its neighbors in the South Pacific.

Prior to impacting the country as a "severe" cyclone, Lola peaked with winds ranked as a Category 5 on Australia's Bureau of Meteorology Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale, with winds near 135 mph (about 215 km/h). That is the highest level on Australia's scale, which differs from the SSHWS.

Ahead of the storm's impacts, "red alerts" were issued by local officials, and people fled to evacuation centers, according to Australia's ABC News.

The storm will go down as the earliest Category 5 (using Australia's scale) cyclone on record in the southern hemisphere, shattering the old record held by cyclones Joan in 1975 and Graham in 1991, which both reached that status on Dec. 5, during the traditional heart of the Australian cyclone season.

Having lost wind intensity since impacting Vanuatu, Lola is now a tropical rainstorm, but it is forecast by AccuWeather's team of international forecasters to continue tracking southeastward. Lola will bring heavy rain and strong winds to a portion of New Zealand into next week.

Beginning later this weekend, northern New Zealand will be in line for heavy rain, gusty winds and coastal impacts from Sunday through Tuesday of next week, local time. It will come as Lola merges with another storm currently located to the east of Australia.

Meteorologists at New Zealand's National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research (NIWA) have issued watches and warnings ahead of Rainstorm Lola's impacts. They will come just days after another storm impacted the Canterbury and Wellington areas, leading to thousands of lightning strikes and strong winds that blew a truck on its side.

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