Hundreds of foreign tourists have been evacuated from the Cook Islands as Cyclone Meena nears super-cyclone status. Winds close to the eye of Meena have been estimated at 230 kilometres an hour, giving it a severity rating of four, one level short of the maximum. "This is now a critically dangerous situation" for the Cook Islands, the Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information said on its website. The cyclone is forecast to pass very near or over the main island of Rarotonga, with the capacity to cause severe damage to the capital late tonight and tomorrow. Huge seas...
