NEW CALEDONIA – The body of a 73-year-old man has been found a day after he went missing during Cyclone Cook in New Caledonia.

The man, from the Konoe tribe from the Kouaoua area on New Caledonia’s eastern coast, reportedly tried to reach a friend’s home at the start of the category three storm but was swept away when attempting to cross a rapidly rising river.

After an intensive search by police and villagers, the man’s body was found several kilometres downstream.

Reports said the man went to look for keys to a house during the cyclone and never returned.

Reports of another man reported as missing have not been substantiated.

Cyclone Cook, which struck on Monday, caused substantial damage in isolated communities around Thio, Canala, Houailou and Kouaoua on the main island’s east coast.

A number of villages were still cut off from the world yesterday but there were no reports of landslides houses or being destroyed.

Some houses on Lifou in the Loyalty Islands lost their roofs, according to reports.

Power has been restored to just about all of the tens of thousands who lost electricity.

The storm’s centre passed about 100 kilometres away from the capital Noumea.

Local media said eight prison inmates, who were caught as they were trying to escape during the storm, would face further punishment.

Meanwhile, Vanuatu is still assessing the damage from the category two cyclone which swept through at the weekend causing widespread flooding and damage to infrastructure and crops mainly on Efate.

Disaster Management Office spokesman, Peter Korisa, said while most people had now returned back to their homes to clean up, his team was working on recovery plans.

Korisa said while food security remained a concern, the priority was co-ordinating relief supplies and getting food to people worst affected.

Vanuatu’s Chamber of Commerce senior agribusiness project officer, Francois Kavirere, said the damage to crops from Cyclone Cook was minimal compared to that caused by Cyclone Pam.

Meanwhile, unrelated to Cyclone Cook, a woman is still missing in French Polynesia after a weekend flash flood hit a group of hikers, killing two.

The group, made up of 19 hikers, was in the Papenoo Valley in Tahiti when the water surprised them following a heavy downpour in the mountains.

Rescue efforts were launched immediately for the three missing people.

The bodies of a man and a woman were found downstream.

A helicopter had been mobilised in the hope of recovering the body of the third victim, who is said to be from France.

- PNC