Cook Islands cyclone weakens, little damage so far

The Cook Islands today seemed to have escaped the worst of Cyclone Meena which had been forecast to cause widespread devastation.

The cyclone battered houses on the islands, cut power and brought down trees, but there have not yet been any reports of injury.

The regional tropical cyclone centre in Fiji reported this morning that Meena was about 40 miles northeast of Rarotonga at 6.30am NZ time and was weakening.

The cyclone was moving southeast at around 20 knots and expected to accelerate. Maximum 10-minute average winds close to the centre were estimated at about 115 knots with momentary gusts to 155 knots.

Meena was expected to lie about 58 miles east-southeast of Rarotonga or about 55 miles west-northwest of Mangaia at 10am NZ time.

The cyclone centre warned that destructive winds would begin a few hours before the cyclone centre passed overhead or nearby.

New Zealand High Commissioner to Rarotonga Kurt Meyer said this morning there were high winds and heavy rain, but some relief as the cyclone appeared to be moving away.

Mr Meyer said the latest emergency centre information was that the islands in the main line, including Palmerston and Aitutaki, had sustained fairly minimal damage.
"They did experience some fairly high seas, some very, very strong winds, but no reports of any major damage to buildings or any injuries at all," he told Newstalk ZB.

On Rarotonga, seas had come across the road up to the building where the High Commission was housed.

Winds created by the cyclone appeared to have reached about 100km/h on the islands, he said.

Prime Minister Helen Clark said aid services were on standby in case the Cooks needed help.

Miss Clark said she discussed the situation with Associate Foreign Affairs minister Marian Hobbs last night.

"She has spoken with New Zealand aid officials. The defence force is well aware of it," Miss Clark told Newstalk ZB.

Mike Henry, a resort owner on Aitutaki Island said there was some relief among locals and tourists on the island.

"It's not as bad as we feared, we've been very lucky," Mr Henry told National Radio.

He said it was low tide when the storm hit, which had reduced the amount of wave damage that high seas could cause.

"Instead we got winds that caused quite a lot of damage along the coast. Trees are down everywhere, crossing the roads, and there are rooves of some of the older buildings that have lost roofing iron.

"But overall we have fared very very well," he said.

On Rarotonga, Air Rarotonga managing director Ewen Smith said the storm appeared to be moving away this morning.

"I don't want to jump the gun here, but we've had days of anxiety and right now we're beginning to feel very relieved," Mr Smith said.

Aircraft had been moved off the island to protect them from winds and would hopefully return this afternoon ready to resume services tomorrow, he said.

Mr Meyer said the Cook Islands had three to four days to prepare and the community had taken the storm threat very seriously.

"They expected the hurricane would be one of the worst that had hit the Cooks and certainly one of the worst that had hit Rarotonga."

Mr Meyer said all the resorts on the coastal area were evacuated and guests were taken to cyclone centres.

About 200 passengers who were hoping to leave Rarotonga were stranded because an Air New Zealand flight from Auckland couldn't land last night.

"While they might not have been as comfortable as they might have hoped for last night, the main thing is that they all were safe," Mr Meyer said.

- NZPA, HERALD STAFF