INIGO

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Inigo originated from an area of disturbed weather near Papua New Guinea on 26 March 2003, tracking westward before developing into a tropical low on 30 March. The system crossed the island of Flores on 31 March, producing heavy rainfall as it moved into the Savu Sea, where it was named Inigo on 1 April by the BOM's Perth warning centre.

Inigo intensified rapidly as it tracked southwest through low wind shear conditions, reaching Category 5 on the Australian scale by 4 April. At peak intensity, it recorded a central pressure of 900 hPa and maximum winds of 240 km/h, placing it equal with Cyclone Gwenda as the most intense tropical cyclone on record in the Australian region. An approaching upper-level trough then caused steady weakening and turned the system southeast. On 8 April, Inigo crossed the Pilbara coast of Western Australia as a weak system with winds around 75 km/h before dissipating within 12 hours.

The most serious impacts occurred before Inigo's cyclone phase, when the precursor disturbance caused flash flooding and mudslides across eastern Indonesia, particularly on Flores, West Timor, and Sumba. Thousands of homes were damaged or destroyed, airports flooded, and roads severed. The disaster resulted in 58 deaths and 102 injuries in Indonesia, with total damage below US$6 million. In Australia, Inigo caused only localised heavy rainfall and no casualties or significant damage. Due to the Indonesian fatalities, the name Inigo was retired and later replaced with Iggy.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia