Tropical cyclone hits Cook Islands, no injuries

Cyclone Pat spared the main island of Rarotonga but was one of the biggest storms to hit the low-lying coral atoll of Aitutaki in about 20 years, damaging 90 percent of the houses on the island of 2,000 people, said Inspector Teri Pati of the National Disaster Management Center on Rarotonga.

There were no initial reports of deaths or injuries from the storm, which struck late Wednesday, though injuries were likely, he said.

The government declared an emergency on Aitutaki, a move to help with recovery and repairs and likely to also attract assistance from nearby New Zealand.

"It's one of the worst cyclones to have struck the island just judging by the reported damage," Pati told New Zealand's National Radio.

Forecasts showed the Category 3 cyclone weakening rapidly and veering away from the main island of Rarotonga, where residents had boarded up shops ahead of the storm's arrival.

"It's now heading away from Rarotonga, moving away from the southern Cooks and weakening," forecaster Alipate Waqaicelua at the Nadi Tropical Cyclone Center in Fiji told The Associated Press. "So that's good news for the southern Cooks."

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