WASHINGTON: Authorities in the Northern Marianas and Guam reported extensive damage including fallen trees and downed power lines after a super typhoon with the force of a category-five hurricane hit the US Pacific territories. No casualties had been reported as of early evening, although with treacherous conditions throughout much of the day hindering clear-up operations, a full picture was yet to emerge.
Worst hit was the small island of Rota, hit by the full force of Super Typhoon Bavi with winds of up to 180 miles (290 kilometres) per hour, knocking out power, water and communications for many of its 1,500 people. A spokeswoman for the Rota Municipal Operations Center, Lou Rosario, said that there had been reports of "major damages".
The National Weather Service had warned before that a direct hit by Bavi would make most of Rota "uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer". The island of Tinian, northern parts of Guam and the southern tip of Saipan experienced winds equivalent to a category-one hurricane, NWS meteorologist Marcus Landon Aydlett said. On Guam, journalists saw downed trees, fallen streetlamps, debris strewn over roads and at least one car flipped over by the wind. — AFP
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