"Five days ago, a fishermen was missing while fishing."Kupang ANTARA News) - East Nusa Tenggara (NTT) Province is currently being affected by tropical cyclone Narelle, a local meteorology officer said here Friday.
"Few days ago, NTT experienced tropical depression near southwest Sumba, but at present it develops into tropical cyclone Narelle," Head of the El Tari Kupang Meteorology Office Syaiful Hadi said.
Cyclone Narelle is currently at the position of 14.0 degrees Southern Latitude and 115 degrees Eastern Longitude, or 590 km of southern Denpasar.
The cyclone is heading for southwest at a speed of two knots, moving away from Indonesia, he said.
As the consequent of the cyclone, the precipitation is mild with winds at 45 km/hour. The sea waves in East Nusa Tenggara waters reached a height of up to seven meters.
The bad weather has cut off the sea transportation connecting three islands in East Flores District, NTT, over the past three days.
East Flores District Head Yoseph Lagadoni Herin said the inter-island sea transportation was halted due to the bad weather that endangers sailing.
The district consists of three islands namely Larantuka, Adonara Island and Solor Islands, which has so far connected by small boats.
"Five days ago, a fishermen was missing while fishing, and last Thursday, there was a report about a fishing boat which is missing in Lamahala," he said.
He urged fishermen and boat operators to stop going to the sea while the district is being hit by strong winds.
Meanwhile, the Australian authorities has issued a blue alert for people in or near coastal and island communities from Roebourne to Coral Bay, including Wickham, Point Samson, Dampier, Onslow, Exmouth and Coral Bay.
A cyclone watch alert is in place for people in or near coastal communities from Coral Bay to Carnarvon in the Mid West Gascoyne, AAP, the Australian news agency, said on Friday.
Cyclone Nerelle is currently about 525km north of Exmouth and 505km northwest of Karratha, western Australia.
The Bureau of Meteorology said the category four cyclone is moving southwest at 13km/h and is expected to pass west of the Northwest Cape over the weekend.
(Uu.F001/O001)
Editor: Priyambodo RH
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