The death toll in Fiji is rising – an entire island is “flattened “

Fijian village.Photo.REUTERS.
Two days after the cyclone in Fiji the death toll has risen to 29. Many of the island communities in the country are still  isolated from the rest of the world and entire villages are virtually razed.
The Government spokesman, Ewan Perrin, says Koro Island with 4,500 inhabitants “had been pretty much flattened” and that there are very few buildings remaining after the ravages of Cyclone Winston  last weekend.
On Monday  eight dead people were found on the island.
Authorities still have trouble getting in touch with some of the most remote island communities.
– Entire villages have been destroyed, homes and crops are damaged, power lines have been torn off and over 8,100 people are currently housed in evacuation centers,  UN humanitarian chief Stephen O’Brien says.
The tropical cyclone Winston is described as one of the most powerful storms ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere with gusts of over 90 meters per second.
The storm reached Fiji late Saturday, but the capital Suva escaped the worst of the depredations.
Fiji consists of 900,000 inhabitants spread over 100 inhabited islands.
Source: NTB scanpix / Norway Today