Forecasters in American Samoa have cancelled a hurricane warning for the US territory after a strong Pacific storm passed nearby without making landfall.
The area is still recovering from a deadly autumn tsunami. A meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Pago Pago says Tropical Cyclone Rene was 113 km southeast of the main island of Tutuila and moving southwest on a track away from the islands.
Strong winds from the storm were still expected to batter the territory, which prompted forecasters to replace the hurricane warning with a gale warning that predicted winds of 48kmh to 72.4kmh.
The high surf was also expected to continue, with waves of 4.5m to 5.4m expected.
