Two deaths. At least 120 displaced. Nearly 73,000 people affected. And a record that was never supposed to be broken.

Severe Tropical Cyclone Maila reached peak sustained winds of 115mph (185km/h) with gusts up to 160mph on Thursday, making it the strongest cyclone ever recorded this far north in the Solomon Sea, according to the Australian Bureau of Meteorology. The storm lingered over the region for most of the week, at one point intensifying to category five before gradually weakening.

The destruction spans multiple Pacific nations. In the Solomon Islands, buildings across Western Province — the country’s tourist heartland — have been destroyed. Schools, clinics, and homes are damaged across Western, Choiseul, and Isabel provinces. The Solomon Islands government has announced a $2 million assistance package for affected residents.

In Bougainville, roads have disappeared beneath floodwaters. Rivers have swollen and landslides have cut across multiple areas. Two deaths have been reported in Papua New Guinea.

The worst may still be coming for some communities. The cyclone’s eye is forecast to pass directly over Woodlark Island and the low-lying Budi Budi Island in PNG’s Milne Bay province early Saturday. Budi Budi, home to a few hundred people, has no high ground and no phone coverage.

“The only way to survive is to find a boat or canoe,” Egnios Sinodi, principal of Budi Budi Primary School, told the ABC. He has been unable to reach his wife and two children on the island.

Barry Kirby, who heads the charity The Hands of Rescue, said he was preparing to fly out food and medicine once conditions allow. “Logistically, it’s a borderline operation,” he said.

Maila has since been downgraded to a category two system and is tracking slowly toward Far North Queensland, where communities around Coen and Lockhart River are still recovering from Cyclone Narelle, which crossed Cape York Peninsula on March 20. Landfall is expected early next week.

The storm adds to a stretch of extreme weather across the Asia-Pacific. Central Vietnam recorded temperatures above 41°C this week. Southern South Korea was lashed by 65mph winds and torrential rain that may break Jeju’s April rainfall record, set in 1998.

Sources