A state of disaster was declared on the tiny South Pacific island of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands after Cyclone Pat damaged up to 90 per cent of its houses, according to reports reaching New Zealand Thursday.
Winds of more than 100 kilometres per hour battered the island of just under 2,000 people for about four hours overnight, bringing down trees, blocking roads and cutting power supplies.
Cook Islands Prime Minister Jim Marurai also declared a state of emergency on the main island, Rarotonga, where schools and government offices were closed and shops in the capital, Avarua, were boarded up as its 9,400 residents braced themselves for the cyclone’s arrival.
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Later reports, however, said that Cyclone Pat had changed direction and was moving away from Rarotonga.
The mayor of Aitutaki, Tai Herman, said the eye of the storm appeared to pass right over the island with winds ripping off house roofs despite them being tied down with wires and ropes, uprooting coconut palms and destroying the electricity network.
Reports said that tourist resorts on Aitutaki had escaped serious damage and just two people were injured by flying debris.
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New Zealander Megan Watson told Radio New Zealand that about 30 tourists and 30 locals were evacuated to a church on higher ground Wednesday night where they would stay for another night as the clean-up began.
The Cooks comprises 15 islands spread over about 2.2 million square kilometres of ocean with Rarotonga about 3,015 kilometres north-east of Auckland.