Typhoon Bavi causes extensive damage on US island of Rota

WASHINGTON (AGENCIES)

Super Typhoon Bavi, one of the strongest storms recorded this year, battered the US Pacific island of Rota on Monday, with authorities reporting extensive damage.

The US National Weather Service said the storm, equivalent in strength to a Category 5 hurricane, was moving over Rota with sustained winds of up to 290 kilometres per hour.

It urged residents to take immediate shelter in an interior room or designated shelter and to treat the approaching winds as if a hurricane were imminent.

Authorities on the small island in the Northern Mariana Islands said they had received reports of extensive damage.