COOK ISLANDS.

Otago Daily Times, Issue 21266, 21 February 1931, Page 6

COOK ISLANDS.

EFFECTS OF HURRICANE. PROBABLE SHORTAGE OF FOOD. (Per United Press Association.) WELLINGTON, February 20, Confirmatory advice has been received by the Minister for the Cook Islands (Sir Apirana Ngata) from the resident commissioner at Rarotonga of the serious damage done in the Cook Islands by the recent hurricane. Aitutaki, which is situated 140 miles due north of Rarotonga, has suffered very severely. The banana crop is entirely destroyed. The orange crop and the coconut trees suffered very heavily, while the breadfruit trees sustained damage from which they will take years to recover. The Taro and Puraka Swamps have been flooded, and the high seas inundated the village of Amuri for half a mile inland. The food supplies of the island, which is one of the most beautiful and fertile of the group, have been almost entirely demolished, and it is estimated that within 10 days the people will be reduced to a fare of coconuts and fish, and the question of relief by way of flour and rice from New Zealand is receiving attention. Aitutaki has a population of 1500 Maoris, and a resident agent in the European district, the nurse, and the school teacher are stationed there. Rarotonga itself has also sustained some damage, about 40 per cent, of the banana crop and one-third of the orange crop having been lost. Otherwise little damage has been done. In the absence of any communication with the northern group, which contains the islands of Penrhyn, Rakahanga, Pukapuka, Manihiki, Nassau, and Suwarrow, it is not known whether any damage has been sustained, but it is believed from the direction of the hurricane that it is possible they escaped. Palmerston Island, in the southern group, which is the only other island of the Gook group not connected by wireless, suffered havoc from a hurricane some years ago, and the food supplies have not yet been fully re-established. The other islands of the lowet group, Atiu, Mauke, and Mangaia, report that though they experienced high seas and winds, they suffered no damage.