Cyclone with force 186 mph winds devastates three South Pacific islands

A SEVERE cyclone has smashed into three remote South Pacific islands shredded trees and buildings, but aid officials downplayed fears about the fate of the islands’ 2,000 residents.

Photos taken by freelance photographer and film-maker Geoff Mackley showed walls and roofs ripped off buildings amid shredded and toppled trees on the tiny island of Tikopia, which bore the brunt of Cyclone Zoe's 186 mph winds. Some 2,000 Solomon Islanders live on Tikopia just three miles long and the smaller islands of Fataka and Anuta hit by Sunday's storm, which cut radio links to the outside world.

"Every tree in the island has been blown over or shredded; the island is completely denuded of vegetation, almost every building has been damaged," Mackley wrote on his website (www.geoffmackley.com). "The sea has come through some villages, burying them ... I will not speculate on the likely casualties or fatalities (but) if it is not large it will be a miracle."