Cyclone wrecks Pacific islands
 

http://www.cnn.com/2003/WEATHER/01/0...one/index.html

HONIARA, Solomon Islands (CNN) -- The first pictures out of the Solomon Islands since Cyclone Zoe roared through the chain on Sunday showed widespread destruction.

Zoe battered the islands of Tikopia, Fataka and Anuta Sunday with winds exceeding 300 kilometers an hour (186 mph) and massive waves.

"The island is a scene of total devastation," said journalist Geoff Mackley, who was in a plane that flew over Tikopia Island Monday, but did not land.

"Tikopia Island would have been in the eyewall of Cyclone Zoe when it was at its peak strength," Mackley said. "Every tree on the island has been blown over or shredded.

Much-needed emergency supplies had yet to reach the isolated islands.

Martin Karani, from the National Disaster Management Office, said the Australian Hercules plane would take aerial photos of the islands before going on to land later on Wednesday in Honiara, capital of the Solomons, about 1,000 km (600 miles) to the northwest.

He said the plane, which flew at the request of the Solomons government, was not taking supplies because the tiny islands had no airstrips, reported Reuters news agency. (Full report)

Signs of life
AusAid spokesman Alan March said the officials reported seeing damage to housing, crops and gardens but also saw islanders tending gardens and fishing.

"It appears some of the original worst fears have not been realised," March told Reuters.

"With the caveat that this was viewed from 500 metres (1,650 feet), there is evidence of people going about their normal business and getting on with their lives and no evidence of injuries."

He said some islanders waved at the plane as it flew past.

"But there was no sign of requests for help," he said.

March said the Australian crew would present its damage assessment and aerial photos to Solomons Islands authorities to help it decide what supplies to send to the islands.

Islands 'denuded'


The physical evidence of damage to islands was still evident, however, and could present a longer term problem to the islands' population.

According to Mackley, the sea had washed through villages on the island.

"The island is completely denuded of vegetation," Mackley said. "Almost every building has been damaged -- a few remain intact -- while others have been shredded."

The National Disaster Management Office has increased its estimate of the number of people on the two worst hit islands -- Tikopia and Anuta -- to about 2,000 from around 1,000, a number taken from a census several years ago.

Solomons radio said that although some fatalities and injuries were expected, high casualties were unlikely as the islanders would have used traditional cyclone shelters.

The Solomons government is bankrupt and the national economy relies on foreign aid after years of ethnic militia fighting.

The National Disaster Management Office may have to charter a civilian passenger boat to carry supplies to the islands following the delayed departure of the patrol boat which was to have carried shelter, food, and medicines from the capital Honiara.

Tikopia, Anuta and Fataka are volcanic islands in the Santa Cruz group of the sprawling Solomons archipelago. Oval-shaped Tikopia, the biggest of the three, measures just five km (three miles) at its longest point.

Cyclone Zoe has weakened since it hit the islands last weekend and was not expected to cause any further damage as it headed east.


edited to add for a moderator: Please move this thread into "OMNI". Thanks.

[This message has been edited by LH738 (edited 01-01-2003).]