South Pacific Humanitarian and Disaster Summary — Sample Issue

Sample — Taken from 16–22 June 2026 Issue

South Pacific Humanitarian
and Disaster Summary

16–22 June 2026

Bottom Line • Warnings • Response • Sector Activities • Long-term Hazards

Bottom Line

1. Warning: First indications of El Niño as drought affects Gizo, Solomon Islands.
2. Warning: New volcanic activity observed in central Bougainville.
3. Response: Tuvalu removed from regional dengue alert after no cases since January.
4. Long-term Warning: Five further countries make El Niño declarations.

Imminent Weather and Hazard Warnings
Extreme Weather Strong Weather Warning — Tonga On 22 June, Tonga Meteorological Services maintained a strong wind warning covering all Tongan land areas. The warning was originally issued for the Niuas on 19 June and gradually expanded to cover the entire country. Winds are expected to lessen from 23 June.
Extreme Weather Strong Weather Warning — Samoa On 22 June, the Samoa Meteorological Service issued a wind and marine advisory warning of strong southerly winds and 2.5 m swells expected to last at least through to the morning of 23 June. The advisory downgraded a previously issued flood advisory from 20 June.
Extreme Weather Strong Weather Warning — Cook Islands Strong wind and heavy rain has continued over the southern Cook Islands since 19 June. Surface flooding occurred and power outages were reported in Aitutaki. The weather is expected to ease on 23 June with scattered showers remaining. No response activations have been reported.
Water First Indications of El Niño as Drought Affects Gizo — Solomon Islands On 22 June, media reporting noted that little rainfall over the past month has developed drought conditions in Gizo, Western Province. Over the last seven days, many household tanks relying on rain catchments have run dry, with residents walking to find alternative sources, including a scattered system of wells. Gizo has not had a functioning water supply system for 20 years. The National Disaster Management Office has activated its national drought contingency plan, with conditions across the country expected to worsen as El Niño develops throughout the remainder of 2026.
Volcano New Volcanic Activity — Bougainville On 19 June, a Level 1 Alert was issued for Mount Bagana, central Bougainville, after eruption activity was detected following two earthquakes felt in the region earlier in the week. Ash has been observed in villages to the south-east of Mount Bagana, with concerns that ash will contaminate rainwater storage and catchments, particularly as El Niño develops with some areas already experiencing four to five weeks without rainfall.
Volcano Submarine Volcano — PNG Reporting indicates eruption activity in the Bismarck Sea is occurring at reduced levels. Multiple scientific organisations assess that there is little risk of an explosive eruption due to the plates in the area separating rather than subducting.
Volcano Volcano — Vanuatu Low-level volcanic activity continues on Ambae. Manaro Voui remains at Alert Level 3 – Minor Eruption. Ash fall is affecting communities on the south and south-east of Ambae, including contamination of crops and drinking water. Activity has been elevated since November 2025.

Note: Colours may not display correctly in all browsers in dark mode. Use light mode for accurate severity indicators.

Indicator Key

GREEN

No significant impact

 YELLOW

Watch / Minor impact

 ORANGE

Warning / High impact

 RED

Severe / Critical impact

Full text for each report in the below sections is available to subscribers. This issue covers:

Ongoing Response and Recovery

Flooding and Transport Disruption — Fiji

Previously Reported Severe Weather Warning — Tonga

Previously Reported Severe Weather Warning — Samoa

Other 15 June Severe Weather Warnings — Region

TC Maila Recovery, ADRA Water Access Project — Solomon Islands

Government Assistance for Manus Communities Affected by Submarine Volcano — PNG

Immediate and Long-term Recovery Needs Remain Significant Two Months After Typhoon Sinlaku — CNMI

Tuvalu Removed from Dengue Alert

Sector Activities

Local

Villages Conduct Disaster Readiness Education — Samoa

New Evacuation Centre Under Construction — Fiji

Youth Disaster Professional to Help Lead Commonwealth Event — Tuvalu

Local Logistics and Operations Centre Training — Tonga

Community Climate Resilience and Conservation Training — Solomon Islands

Training for Journalists to Better Report Climate Effects — Palau

Regional

Humanitarian and Disaster Response Regional Exercise — French Polynesia

Humanitarian Logistics Training — Australia

UN and ADB Agreement on Disaster Risk Financing

Emerging and Best Practice

Automatic Insurance Payout for Climate Impacts — Tuvalu

New GIS Technology Improves Freshwater Access in Remote Communities — Fiji

Long-term Hazard Warning

El Niño — Global

Dengue Outbreaks — Region

Medicine Shortage — Samoa

Fuel Disruption — Region

Upcoming Significant Dates

2026

July

  • 1–3: Pacific Innovation Forum on Climate and Environment. Vanuatu, hosted by SPREP.
  • 14: International Conference on Technology and Innovation in Disaster Management. Dunedin, New Zealand.
  • 22: ACFID CEO Connect. Adelaide, Australia.
  • 23: ACFID Intro to the Humanitarian and Development Sector. Adelaide, Australia.
  • 27–28: Disaster and Emergency Management Conference. Gold Coast, Australia.
  • 28–29: Sustainable Waste Actions in the Pacific (SWAP) project second annual steering committee meeting. Samoa, hosted by SPREP.

August

  • RFMF Exercise Bougainville — brigade-level, multiagency national security exercise. Fiji.
  • Asia-Pacific Humanitarian Logistics Working Group Meeting Q3. In-person, TBD.
  • 7: Pacific Islands Forum Foreign Ministers Meeting. Palau.
  • 30 August–2 September: 55th Pacific Area Senior Officer Logistics Seminar. Tokyo.
  • 30 August–4 September: Pacific Islands Forum Leaders Meeting. Palau.
  • Earliest month for Fiji general election.

September

  • 7–11: 11th Pacific Islands Conference on Nature Conservation and Protected Areas. New Caledonia.
  • 14–18: 5th Pacific Ocean–Pacific Climate Change Conference. Solomon Islands.
  • 21–25: 5th Clean Pacific Roundtable. PNG, hosted by the Pacific Regional Infrastructure Facility.
  • 22: International Conference on Human Security and Disaster Studies. Auckland, New Zealand.
  • Exercise Taufatahi — Tonga–US National Guard 3-day tsunami humanitarian and disaster relief exercise.

October

  • 5–8: Pre-COP 31. Fiji. Leaders component also to be held in Tuvalu (date TBD).
  • 12–14: ACFID National Conference 2026.
  • 15: International Conference on Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Management. Auckland, New Zealand.

November

  • 4: ACFID Intro to the Humanitarian and Development Sector. Online.
  • 5: World Tsunami Awareness Day.
  • 9–20: COP 31. Turkey, co-hosted by Australia.
  • 12: Asia-Pacific Humanitarian Logistics Working Group Meeting Q4. Online.
  • 25–26: Pacific Island Leaders Governance Workshop 2026. Fiji, hosted by Pacific Board Governance.

December

  • Nil.

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