A "super typhoon" with equivalent force to a category-five hurricane tore through the US island of Rota in the Pacific on Monday, with authorities saying they had received reports of "major" damage. Local authorities on the small island -- the southernmost part of the Northern Marianas -- said they had already received reports from some of its roughly 1,500 inhabitants of "major damages".

Guam and Northern Marianas brace for Super Typhoon Bavi as forecasts warn of category-five strength winds, dangerous storm surge and widespread damage.

Residents of Guam and the Northern Marianas boarded up windows and stocked up as a monster weather system upgraded on Saturday to a "super typhoon" -- the equivalent of a…