Severe Tropical Cyclone Heta was a Category 5 tropical cyclone that caused moderate damage to the islands of Tonga, Niue, and American Samoa during late December 2003 and early January 2004. Heta formed on December 25, 2003; it reached a maximum intensity of and an estimated pressure of 915 hPa (27.02 inHg) before dissipating on January 11, 2004. It was the first named tropical cyclone to form during the 2003–04 South Pacific cyclone season.
The damage Heta caused on Tonga, Niue, and American Samoa was estimated at $150 million (2004 USD), with most of the damage occurring in American Samoa; the cyclone was also responsible for one death. Heta precipitated a massive relief and clean-up operation that lasted throughout 2004.
Meteorological history
During December 25, 2003 the Fiji Meteorological Service reported that Tropical Disturbance 03F had developed underneath the subtropical ridge of high pressure about halfway between Fiji and Rotuma. At this time, the disturbance was poorly organised with atmospheric convection surrounding the system displaced by about a degree to the north and east of its low-level circulation centre. Over the next few days, the system gradually developed further and was classified as a tropical depression by the FMS during December 28, as it slowly moved eastwards to the north of Fiji. During the next day, as the depression passed about to the northeast of Futuna, the system started to move north-eastwards towards Tokelau.
The depression migrated first northward and then eastward until January 2, 2004, when it reached tropical storm strength and was named Heta. At this point, low wind shear and high sea surface temperatures caused Heta to intensify rapidly. On January 3, Heta, aided by a weak steering current, slowly began to move to the southeast as it became a Category 1 hurricane.
The center of Heta passed west of Samoa as the storm reached Category 2 status. Heta reached a peak intensity of at midnight UTC on January 5, and maintained it for 24 hours as it continued its south-southeastward track. Heta passed close to the island of Niue at 03:00 UTC January 6 as it began slowly weakening. By January 7, Cyclone Heta had exited the Nadi RMSC's area of responsibility and entered that of the Tropical Cyclone Warning Center at Wellington, New Zealand. The storm slowly weakened as it encountered the cooler waters of the far South Pacific. Heta became extratropical south of the island of Rarotonga later on the 7th. These remnants of Heta slowed even further and moved westward, where they finally dissipated on January 11 east of Norfolk Island.
Effects
Tokelau
During January 1, the FMS issued a tropical cyclone alert for Tokelau before upgrading it later that day to a gale warning, as Heta was expected to cause gale-force winds over the islands within 24–36 hours. The warning was kept in force over the next 48 hours before it was cancelled during January 3, after Heta had moved away from Tokelau.
Wallis and Futuna
Samoan Islands
In Samoa and American Samoa, although hurricane warnings were in effect, there were no reports of evacuations or storm shelters being opened before the storm.
Tonga
Niue
In Niue, anticipating that the storm would bring catastrophic damage, 1300 residents sought shelter in their homes while others evacuated coastal areas to higher ground. One person was reported dead, and the storm damage described as the worst in living memory. The capital Alofi was destroyed, as was the island's only hospital.
Impact
Cyclone Heta caused around $110 to $150 million (2004 USD) in damage and one fatality in its path across Tonga, Niue, Samoa, and American Samoa.
During its early stages, Heta brought heavy rains and light winds but caused little or no damage. In Wallis and Futuna, however, high winds knocked out power and there was minor to moderate damage to buildings and crops. In Tonga, Heta's strong winds damaged houses and caused severe crop damage, mostly to breadfruit, mango, tava and bananas. In Tafahi and Niuatoputapu, 50–100% of the homes and buildings were destroyed by the cyclone's powerful, Category 5 winds. However, because of advanced warnings, there were no deaths or injuries. Structural damage in Tonga amounted to $160,000 (2004 USD).