UN emergency teams assessing cyclone toll in Oceania

(New York, 10 March 2005): United Nations emergency teams arrived in Samoa and met with the United Nations Resident Coordinator before heading to the Cook Islands and Tokelau to assess damages inflicted by Cyclone Percy.
In the Cook Islands, the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination team (UNDAC) is focusing on the outer islands. The team will prepare a comprehensive report including assessments results carried out so far. The International Red Cross and Red Crescent Society (IFRC) reports that the 600 residents of Pukapuka seem to have enough food and drinking water for about a week. About 80 per cent of the houses have been destroyed on Pukapuka and roads have been washed out.

In Tokelau, the authorities have said that initial assessments indicate damage to infrastructure across the three atolls of Nukunonu, Atafu and Fakaofo, including seawalls, hospital facilities, schools, an office building and a meeting house. Debris is spread throughout the villages. Tokelauan groups began the clean-up operation quickly and in a well-organized fashion to avoid health problems. In the short term, immediate needs for food, medical and shelter appear to have been provided.

In Nukunonu, initial estimates are that about 80 per cent of the village was under water at some stage. Around 80 percent of the buildings sustained water or wind damage and at least five homes were severely damaged. Food supplies have been badly affected with bulk storage facilities breached. Goods have been damaged by water or washed away. Some individual stores were destroyed. There is also major damage to agricultural crops.

In Atafu, damage to septic tanks at the hospital and some homes poses a danger of diarrhoea outbreaks. In addition, the power supply was cut off, no international telecommunication is available, and temporary shelters, used by recovering patients and school children, sustained some damage.

On 26 February, Cyclone Percy pounded Tokelau with winds from 178 to 249 kilometres per hour, causing widespread damage to the three atolls: Atafu (population 500 - 600), Nukunonu (population 400 - 450) and Fakaofo (population 500). Tokelau consists of a group of three atolls in the South Pacific, about one-half of the way from Hawaii to New Zealand. The cyclone also moved through American Samoa and passed the northern part of the Cook Islands,

The Government of New Zealand has committed USD 360,000 for relief supplies, while Australia has committed USD 39,000 to be channeled through New Zealand. The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) is releasing USD 50,000.