- HONIARA (Reuters) - All the
inhabitants of a South Pacific island battered by a fierce cyclone have
survived by fleeing to mountain shelters, according to a photographer who
has landed on the island.
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- He said it appeared no one had died on Tikopia, where
it was feared hundreds might have perished after Cyclone Zoe tore through
the remote eastern Solomon Islands on Sunday morning.
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- Tikopia is the biggest of the affected islands which
are home to around 3,700 people. The situation on Anuta and other islands
hammered by the cyclone is unclear.
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- "The whole way there I thought I would see hundreds
of dead and festering bodies, but instead we were just overwhelmed with
people running toward the plane," photographer Geoff Mackley told
The Weekend Australian after landing on Tikopia by helicopter.
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- "Every single person was alive and there they were,
standing in front of me." The reports were the first from the region
since the cyclone hit with 190 mph winds. Radio links are down on the islands
and there are no air strips.
-
- Relief supplies were finally on their way to the islands
on Friday as the Solomon Islands government declared the area a disaster
zone.
-
- Tikopia islanders, living in about 21 villages, have
a long history of coping with cyclones.
-
- They said they had survived by fleeing to mountain hideouts
along paths their ancestors had used for centuries during cyclones, The
Australian Web site said.
-
- But they told Mackley their homes and crops were destroyed
and they would not be able to grow all the food they needed for at least
the next three years.
-
- The paper also said their last water supply had been
contaminated by salt water.
-
- "They are collecting water from green coconuts,
but obviously that's not very good for them," Mackley said. "They
used communal toilets which were basically holes in the ground, so now
there's a risk of disease."
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- SLOW RESPONSE
-
- As criticism mounted about the slow response to the disaster,
a patrol boat set off on the 600 mile, two-day journey from the Solomon
Islands capital Honiara on Thursday.
-
- The Solomons government declared Tikopia and Anuta disaster
areas after analyzing aerial photographs taken from a Royal Australian
Air Force aircraft.
-
- The photographs showed two villages on Tikopia, which
are home to 700 people, had been virtually washed away.
-
- Home Affairs Minister Clement Rojumana said a disaster
declaration allowed the government to appeal for help.
-
- "This natural disaster could not have come at a
more difficult, if not miserable time for our poor country which is still
trying to recover from the destructive effects of the past three years
of ethnic and social tension," Rojumana said in a declaration over
national broadcaster, SIBC.
-
- The former British colony of 450,000 people, which is
bankrupt and dependent on foreign aid, has struggled to respond to the
disaster because of lack of funds and the sheer distances involved.
-
- The volcanic islands, 1,900 miles northeast of Australia,
are some of the most remote in the world.
-
- The departure of a boat carrying food, water, temporary
shelters and a medical team was held up by a series of disputes.
-
- The boat only left after the government agreed to pay
police crew members a special allowance of $700 each.
-
- On Friday, the National Disaster Council requisitioned
a commercial passenger vessel to take more supplies to the islands. It
was expected to leave on Saturday.
-
- Australia and New Zealand have voluntarily agreed to
support relief efforts. Canberra has paid A$70,000 toward fuel for the
patrol boat and supplies on the commercial vessel. New Zealand is giving
NZ$70,000.
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