Cook Islanders on Aitutaki devastated by Cyclone Pat

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http://www.stuff.co.nz/world/south-pacific/3323518/Life-will-never-be-same-after-cyclone

Life will 'never be same' after cyclone

Atawhai Teaukura watched as trees were "torn apart" and houses flattened in her town on Thursday.

From her home in Arutanga, on the island of Aitutaki in the Cook Islands, she last night recounted how her town had been devastated by Cyclone Pat, which made landfall in the early hours of Thursday.

The former Southlander said the cyclone cut power to most of the island, tore off roofs and flattened homes as it passed through, but yesterday people were getting on with their lives.

During the cyclone she and her husband witnessed the 185kmh winds tearing at neighbouring houses, before they took cover at the height of the storm with her three children inside a makeshift shelter to avoid shattering glass, she said.

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