Huge waves hit an important U.S. base in the Pacific
On the night of the 20th, a powerful wave driven by an offshore storm surge hit an important U.S. military facility in the Marshall Islands in the Pacific Ocean, and the damage caused by this would take months to repair. A video posted online shows a huge wave rushing into a facility on Royana Namur Island, the second largest island in Kwajalein Atoll, with the sea not only washing away doors and windows, toppling furniture and reaching ceiling height in a short time. The northwestern third of the island was swallowed by water, and flooding caused by the waves also hit two airports in the Aylin Lapula Atoll, leaving rocks, corals and debris behind, forcing the airport to close.
The island, which is actually home to the U.S. Ballistic Missile Defense Test Site in the Republic of the Marshall Islands, has been extensively damaged and all "non-mission personnel" on the island have been evacuated, according to the U.S. Army report.
