Islanders Tell How They Survived Cyclone Zoe

By Johnson Honimae

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.

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.

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.

"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.

"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."

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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