Funafala

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Funafala
Satellite image of the Funafuti Atoll.
Satellite image of the Funafuti Atoll.
Waters Pacific Ocean
Archipelago Funafuti
Geographical location 8 ° 38 ′  S , 179 ° 6 ′  E Coordinates: 8 ° 38 ′  S , 179 ° 6 ′  E
Funafala (Tuvalu)
Funafala

Funafala is an elongated reef island in the reef rim of the Funafuti Atoll , Tuvalu .

geography

The island lies at a point in the atoll where the southern reef rim runs north. On widened the south end, where the settlement of the same name is located, the island is separated only by narrow channels of Telele and Tefota and north closes Mateiko on.

history

Five families live on the island and there is a church. The name "Funafala" means: "The Pandanus of Funa" and Funa is the name of a chief after whom the archipelago got its name.

Storms in 1883 and 1972

The storm dunes in Funafuti, the highest point of the atoll.

George Westbrook , a trader on Funafuti, reports a cyclone that devastated Funafuti in 1883. Westbrook was the only person on Fongafale when the storm hit because Tema , the Samoan missionary , had brought everyone to Funafala to build a church. All buildings in Fongafale were destroyed, including the church and the Westbrook and Alfred Restieaux trade warehouses . Little damage was done in Funafala and people returned and rebuilt Fongafale.

In 1972 Funafuti was in the course of Cyclone Bebe , which hit the Gilbert Islands , Ellice Islands and Fiji as a pre-season cyclone . Bebe destroyed 90% of the houses and trees. The storm surge created a wall of broken coral along the ocean side of Fongafale and Funafala that was approximately ten miles long and three to six meters thick. The drinking water reserves became inedible.

Second World War

During the Pacific War , the bulk of the residents of Fongafale moved to Funafala to make way for the United States Air Force in Fongafale , who occupied a large part of the island for the construction of the airfield. The Princess Margaret Hospital was also moved to Funafala.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Map at Tuvaluislands.com.
  2. ↑ Sailing directions for the Pacific islands, Volume 3 . United States Hydrographic Office, 1952, p. 287.
  3. ↑ Funafala Village at Geonames.org.
  4. ↑ Funafala at geonames.org.
  5. ↑ Guy Needham: Tuvalu: Where the sky meets the sea . In: New Zealand Herald . May 2, 2017. Retrieved May 2, 2017.
  6. ^ Charles Hedley: General account of the Atoll of Funafuti . Australian Museum Memoir 3 (2): 1–72, 1896, p. 17.
  7. ↑ Jane Resture: Hurricane 1883 . Tuvalu and the Hurricanes: 'Gods Who Die' by Julian Dana as told by George Westbrook,.
  8. ↑ Andrick Lal: South Pacific Sea Level & Climate Monitoring Project - Funafuti atoll . SPC Applied Geoscience and Technology Division (SOPAC Division of SPC), pp. 60-63 & 65-68 & 73-76.
  9. ^ Bureau of Meteorology (1975) Tropical Cyclones in the Northern Australian Regions 1971-1972 Australian Government Publishing Service
  10. ↑ a b Jane Resture: Hurricane Bebe 1972 . Tuvalu and the Hurricanes: 'The Hurricane in Funafuti, Tuvalu' by Pasefika Falani (Pacific Frank), October 5, 2009.
  11. ↑ Kennedy Warne: Will Pacific Island Nations Disappear as Seas Rise? Maybe Not - Reef islands can grow and change shape as sediments shift, studies show . In: National Geographic . February 13, 2015. Accessed February 14, 2015.
  12. ↑ Noati P. Teo: Chapter 17 - Colonial Rule . In: Tuvalu: A History . Institute of Pacific Studies, University of the South Pacific and Government of Tuvalu, 1983, pp. 132-133.