Officials fear two villages of 400 people washed away by Cyclone Zoe

Friday, January 3rd 2003, 12:00 am

By: News On 6

CANBERRA, Australia (AP) _ A powerful cyclone may have destroyed the homes of up to 400 people on a remote tropical island but the number of casualties remained unknown, officials said Friday.

Cyclone Zoe blew across the southwestern Pacific islands of Tikopia and Anuta on Sunday with winds of up to 225 mph. The storm churned up waves as high as 33 feet that crashed against the shore, flattening palm trees and homes.

The storm knocked out radio communication and since the islands have no airstrip, officials don't know exactly how bad the damage is or if anyone died.

Australian aid officials flew over Tikopia to evaluate the destruction. They did not fly over Anuta and there were no estimates of the damage to that island.

The waves might have contaminated drinking water supplies, destroyed crops and rendered soil useless for farming for up to five months, officials with the Solomon Islands National Disaster Management Office said.

``There is a natural lake (on Tikopia) which could have been contaminated by the sea water and that could affect the whole island's food chain,'' said disaster office spokesman Brian Beti.

The photos and video taken by the Australian air force plane on Wednesday prompted fears of a major disaster on the islands, home to 3,700 people.

On Thursday night, a boat carrying aid workers and emergency food, medical and water supplies left the Solomon Islands capital, Honiara. The 620-mile voyage could take until Sunday depending on weather. Beti said a second boat was loading supplies Friday afternoon and preparing to leave soon.

The Australian government's aid agency said officials on the survey plane spotted Tikopia islanders rebuilding homes and fishing.

``There is no evidence _ albeit from 500 feet _ of injuries or casualties,'' the assistant director general of the aid agency, Alan March, said Thursday.

But Judith MacDonald, a New Zealand anthropologist who lived on Tikopia for a year, said it appeared from the photos that at least 15 villages home to about 700 people and three chiefs had been washed away by the Category 5 cyclone _ the most powerful nature can generate.

``My assessment is of appalling horrendous damage. Where there was once 15 villages there is now just sand and debris,'' MacDonald said Friday.

``The island was like the garden of Eden, it was fertile and well-managed, but the soils will be contaminated with salt water. It looks to me like crops were absolutely obliterated.''

MacDonald said the islanders were skilled in preparing for cyclones and may have survived the storm.

Tikopia and neighboring Anuta are part of the impoverished Solomon Islands, a country of 80 islands 1,400 miles northeast of Sydney, Australia.

Australia and New Zealand, the two wealthiest nations in the southwest Pacific, have been criticized for the delays in assessing the damage and getting a relief ship or even parachute drops of supplies to the islands. Both nations have given tens of thousands of dollars in aid.

``It's absurd that nearly a week after the cyclone we still don't know what casualties there are, or the needs of the people,'' said Keith Locke, New Zealand Greens Party legislator and foreign affairs spokesman.

The Australian government has said the Solomon Islands is a sovereign state and it could only act after a request for assistance was made from Honiara.

The Solomon Islands' economy is near collapse following years of fighting between rival islanders that has left dozens dead and driven away foreign investors.