Posted on 02/06/2005 2:14:44 PM PST by HAL9000
Hundreds of foreign tourists have been evacuated from the Cook Islands as Cyclone Meena nears super-cyclone status.Winds close to the eye of Meena have been estimated at 230 kilometres an hour, giving it a severity rating of four, one level short of the maximum.
"This is now a critically dangerous situation" for the Cook Islands, the Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information said on its website.
The cyclone is forecast to pass very near or over the main island of Rarotonga, with the capacity to cause severe damage to the capital late tonight and tomorrow.
Huge seas are expected to cause flooding in coastal areas and forecasters have warned of damaging gale force winds over northern parts of the southern Cook Islands.
New Zealand's Foreign Ministry says an Air New Zealand flight out of the Cook Islands was packed with tourists as the storm neared.
I don't know, but it seems strange they evacuate the tourists and let the locals take a hammering. I have no diea what the population of Cook Islands is. But God be with them if this cyclone keeps its current path!
The Countdown
The Signs
Wars
Famine
Plague & Disease
Earthquakes
Traffic Accidents
Rapid Transport
Knowledge
Violence
The Occult
Gospel Preached
The Antichrist
The Mark
Great Tribulation
The Rapture
Armageddon
No period has witnessed the escalation of wars as has the 20th Century. The Red Cross has estimated that over 100 million people have been killed in wars since the 20th Century began. Up until 1914, war had never been universal, but in both World War 1 & 2, total war was waged.
Since World War II, the war that was supposed to make the world safe for democracy, there have been numerous major wars & hundreds of rebellions & revolutions. The death toll in conflicts since the end of World War II has now topped 23 million.
November '89!--The opening of the Berlin Wall symbolizes the end of the Cold War between the Superpowers...But instead of the expected peace, more "wars & rumors of wars" raged around our planet. In 1993 a record 29 major wars were fought.
"Nation rising against nation, & kingdom against kingdom" could more accurately be translated as "ethnic group rising against ethnic group"--a prophecy dreadfully fulfilled in former Yugoslavia, Rwanda & other trouble spots around the World. Not only are "wars & rumors of wars" on the increase, but also the horrors that wars unleash.
We have become numb to news of atrocities & tortures, mass rape & murder, which show what horrible savagery modern man is still capable of when he is unrestrained by God. -http://www.countdown.org/armageddon/war.htm
hmmmmm...
Actually, the last few years have been among the most peaceful the world has ever seen, in terms of warfare.
Yikes! I've been to the Cook Islands.
There were stories there about people lashing themselves to sturdy trees so as not to be blown away. Time to start searching for your tree it looks like
I guess I'd better stack up on those twinkies.
Meena not that mean
The Cook Islands appeared to have escaped the worst of Cyclone Meena, which had been forecast to cause widespread devastation, the New Zealand High Commissioner to Rarotonga said today.
The cyclone battered houses on the islands, cut power and brought down trees, but there were no immediate reports of injury.
"They did experience some fairly high seas, some very, very strong winds, but no reports of any major damage to buildings or any injuries at all," High Commissioner Kurt Meyer told Newstalk ZB.
Winds created by the cyclone were predicted to be up to 200km/h, but appeared to have reached about 100km/h on the islands, he said.
Huge waves also caused minor damage to buildings along the waterfront in the main township of Avarua.
The Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information said Meena seemed to have peaked in intensity as a strong Category Four storm, on a scale where five is the most severe.
Mike Henry, a resort owner on Aitutaki Island said there was relief among locals and tourists.
"It's not as bad as we feared, we've been very lucky," he said on National Radio.
He said it was low tide when the storm hit, which reduced the amount of wave damage.
"Instead we got winds that caused quite a lot of damage along the coast. Trees are down everywhere, crossing the roads, and there are roofs of some of the older buildings that have lost roofing iron."
Mr Meyer said the Cook Islands had three to four days to prepare for the storm, allowing the evacuation of resorts on coastal areas, and giving locals time to take precautions.
However, about 200 passengers hoping to leave Rarotonga were stranded because an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland could not land.
"While they might not have been as comfortable as they might have hoped for last night, the main thing is that they all were safe." Mr Meyer said.
Great Tribulation - The Mark - now
And between the start of Great Tribulation and The Mark let's not forget that this also happened
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