cut a path of devastation

日本の震災を思い起こさせるほどの激甚災害になりました。

Struggle for Survival in Philippine City Shattered by Typhoon

Typhoon Haiyan, among the most powerful in history, slammed into the eastern Philippine city of Tacloban on Friday and cut a path of devastation barreling west across the archipelago nation.

In its wake, corpses lay along roads lined with splintered homes and toppled power lines, as the living struggled to survive, increasingly desperate for fresh drinking water, food and shelter. The damage to everything is so great that it is hard even to tally. Mass graves began to fill as relief efforts struggled to get underway.

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/11/12/world/asia/philippines-storm-surge-leaves-scenes-of-devastation.html?nl=todaysheadlines&emc=edit_th_20131112&_r=0

cut a path of devastationのcut a pathは「（道を）切り開く」という意味で、通例、ポジティブな意味合いで使われます（cf. cut a canal）。でもここではof devastationがくっ付いて、「破壊の道を切り開く」となり、ネガティブな意味合いでも用いられています。おそらくは「（破壊の）爪痕を残す」、「破壊のかぎりをつくす」あたりの日本語に相当すると思われます。なお、barrelingの意味合いはすでに取り上げられています。（UG）

http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20130213/1360712827
http://d.hatena.ne.jp/A30/20120826/1345972515