A large swathe of the Pacific is currently being thrashed by a category five super cyclone. There have been reports of as many as 44 deaths in Vanuatu where communication to outer islands has been lost after the eye of Cyclone Pam passed just 30km to the east of Port Vila on Friday local time.

At this stage in the reporting of damage from the cyclone nothing is clear. This is a round up of reports from a variety of news sources filed late yesterday.

VANUATU – Communication to Vanuatu has been lost as it is hammered by tropical Cyclone Pam, Radio New Zealand’s Pacific new service reports.

The storm is a category 5 – the strongest possible – with storm gusts of 330 kilometres an hour.

The centre passed 30 kilometres east of Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila.

Last night, Unicef in Vanuatu said it had unconfirmed reports of deaths in the outer islands.

But even by last night, communication to those islands was down, and disaster officials say they expect immense damage has been done.

Unicef spokesperson Alice Clements said the storm had gone on far longer than any one expected and it was terrifying.

“I stayed in a concrete hotel that was three storeys high, and even so I’d lost the sliding doors from my room, I had all the wind howling through the room.”

“It was 15-30 minutes of absolute terror for everybody in this country.”

A Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office spokesperson, Mishaen Garae Lulu, said cellphone and other networks appeared to be down, and it has been difficult to collect other information from the northern provinces.

Lulu said about 50 people died when Cyclone Uma struck in 1987, and he was expecting Pam’s impact on the country to be worse.

Up to 4000 people across Vanuatu have taken refuge in shelters like concrete churches and schools. The islands have a population of 270,000.

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VANAUATU – Emergency relief organisations are on standby in Vanuatu to provide help to communities hit hard by Tropical Cyclone Pam, the ABC reports.

The centre of the cyclone passed close to Port Vila and was moving in a southerly direction at about 23 kilometres per hour.

The island of Erromango, the fourth largest island in the Vanuatu archipelag, with a population of around 2000, was in line for a direct hit.

The islands were being hit by hurricane-force winds, torrential rainfall, flash flooding, landslides and storm surges.

Speaking from a hotel shelter in Port Vila on Friday, programme director for CARE Australia in Vanuatu, Inga Mepham, told the ABC’s The World programme that people had heeded warnings to take shelter.

“It’s a thundery noise coming through and obviously things are starting to fly around. We can feel things hitting us at different times,” she said.“I think people would still be in disbelief tonight, certainly we are.”

The head of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs for the Pacific, Sune Gudnitz, said the storm was the “worst-case scenario”.

“The most vulnerable will certainly be the people that are living or residing closer to the coastline, which in a place like Vanuatu is a lot of people,” he said.

“Very few structures I think will be able to withstand a category five cyclone of the magnitude that we are seeing.

“So we are looking at potentially total destruction of many shelters, residences, especially in the islands south and outside of Port Vila.”

Vanuatu’s northern islands were the first to feel the destructive force of Pam, the strongest storm to hit the nation of 270,000 people in nearly 30 years.

Aid agencies said many people living in flimsy slum accommodation were particularly at risk, as well as those in remote outlying islands.

Just before the full force of the cyclone struck Port Vila Unicef spokeswoman Alice Clements said the capital resembled a “ghost town” as people battened down.

“The winds have definitely increased, the palm trees are blowing around like crazy, you’re starting to get that kind of howling wind coming through,” Clements said.

Meteorologist Neville Koop, from Fiji’s Nadraki Weather Service, said Pam’s winds were capable of bringing down even well-built structures.

He said they could be more destructive than Cyclone Uma, which killed at least 30 people when it sank two ferries off Port Vila.

“Pam has winds which are much stronger than Vanuatu experienced in 1987”, he said.

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SOLOMON ISLANDS – Solomon Islands is taking stock of the aftermath of Cyclone Pam with reports of serious damages in the country’s eastern province, RNZI reports.

Trees and crops have been flattened, with residents sheltering in school buildings and caves as the category 5 storm destroyed their homes.

Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office Deputy Director Jonathan Tafiariki said Tikopia Island was one of the worst affected.

“We have been informed that now the island is more like a desert again, since they have experienced strong winds since yesterday,” he said.

“So that means we have all the food gardens and most of the trees have been blown down.”

Tafiariki said other islands have reported extensive destruction and damage to houses but so far there had been no loss of life.

He said initial relief efforts from the disaster management office would focus on food, water and medical supplies but ongoing severe weather conditions were delaying the response.

Another spokesperson, Brian Tom, told RNZI that more than 3000 households had been affected, with some houses damaged or destroyed – and reports of injuries.

“Some people have been injured from the fallen trees and houses that were destroyed by the strong winds of the tropical cyclone.”

Tom said Tikopia and Anuta bore the full force of the storm.

He said the people of Tikopia had lost 90 per cent of their food crops and fruit trees, and their water was contaminated, but the weather was still too rough to launch a boat with emergency supplies.

He said all phone lines to Anuta were down and they had no information about how the island has fared.

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TUVALU – A state of emergency has been declared in Tuvalu after tidal surges caused by Cyclone Pam to the southwest washed away houses and crops.

A spokesperson for the Red Cross in Tuvalu, Claire Shave, said the situation on the outer islands was very bad with a large number of people affected.

“Some of the outer islands have had a very bad couple of nights indeed. They’ve had water washing away houses, buildings, community halls, that sort of thing.

“In addition, because the land is very flat they’ve had disturbance to some grave sites which is causing a great deal of distress.”

Shave said the Red Cross had begun its emergency response and was distributing emergency supplies to those affected.

She said it was possible international assistance would be requested by the Tuvalu government.

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fiji – Fiji emergency authorities are still on standby, despite the likelihood of them not feeling the full brunt of Tropical Cyclone Pam, RNZI reports.

Earlier the military had sent personnel to 20 flood prone areas around the country and placed up to 300 troops on high alert in preparation for the effects of the huge storm.

At the time of the report the cyclone was currently bearing down on Vanuatu and not moving towards Fiji.

But Acting Director for the National Disaster Office Akapusi Tuifagalele says weather can be unpredictable.

“There has not been any clearance yet given by our meteorological office. We will continue the monitoring and the manning.

“Here at the National Emergency Operations Centre we are on a 24 hour basis likewise all our divisional commissioners and our other important sectors like the military the Ministry of Education and the Ministry of Health.”

Tuifagalele says the thoughts of the people of Fiji are with their Vanuatu brothers and sisters.

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NEW ZEALAND – Gisborne residents are being warned to stock enough food and water to last three days as authorities brace for the aftermath of Cyclone Pam.

All eyes are on the potentially devastating weather system which was upgraded to a category 5 super cyclone early Friday morning.

Representatives from more than a dozen agencies, including Civil Defence, Gisborne District Council and emergency services, met on Friday to come up with a response plan for the major sea surges, rain and wind expected to accompany the ex-tropical cyclone when it hits New Zealand.

MetService has a severe-weather watch in place for northern and eastern parts of the North Island, with Gisborne looking likely to cop the worst of the storm.