A hurricane warning will be triggered at 5 a.m. on Sunday in New Caledonia, the day of the third referendum on the independence of this French archipelago in the Pacific Ocean, due to the threat of a tropical depression, civil security announced on Saturday. .
This phenomenon, currently classified as a weak tropical depression, is currently located in the south of the Solomon Islands archipelago and should gradually affect New Caledonia until Tuesday, by strengthening.
“The most probable trajectory is a passage very close to New Caledonia (between Monday evening and Tuesday), either on Grande-Terre, or on the Loyalty Islands”, declared to the media NC the 1st forecaster Julien Leduc, specifying that it will then be a strong tropical depression. Heavy rains and gusts to 150 km / h are expected.
The hurricane warning invites the population to keep informed of weather reports and to secure buildings and boats.
The meteorological services have placed Grande-Terre and the Isle of Pines on yellow vigilance with heavy rains and thunderstorms from Saturday evening, but do not announce any major degradation for Sunday, when the third and last referendum on independence will take place. New Caledonia, under the Nouméa Accord (1998).
The separatists shun this election, which they asked to postpone to September 2022, because of the health context.