At least 11 people have been killed by floods and landslides caused by Tropical Cyclone Maila in Papua New Guinea.
Australia has pledged $2.5 million to help with the clean-up in the country, where Prime Minister James Marape saying making contact with remote communities affected by the disaster is challenging.
He said food, water and temporary shelter was being organised for affected communities.
“Reports are still coming in and are scattered, but we will make sure we reach every place, every island, and every community that has been affected,” Mr Marape said in a statement on Sunday, announcing plans to travel to the Milne Bay province, where there were reports of widespread damage.
Low-lying properties in the Western provinces of Solomon Islands were hit hard by the cyclone. (Facebook: Pana Paza)
In Bougainville, an autonomous region of Papua New Guinea that is seeking independence, school was cancelled this week after the cyclone destroyed critical infrastructure, including roads and bridges, and severely disrupted food supply chains.
Eleven people were killed in the region, including eight in a landslide.
Bougainville resident Lohial Nuau delivered emergency supplies to Kongara Village, where a family of four adults and four children died.
He told the ABC their house collapsed in a night-time landslide while everyone was asleep inside, adding that two of the women killed were pregnant.
Mr Nuau said it was a difficult time for the region.
“They had run out of food — basic food items like tinned fish and sugar,” he said.
People look for survivors in a house hit by a landslide in Bougainville. ( Facebook: Junior Evinu Karatapi)
The Arawa District Hospital in Bougainville has put out a call, asking for basic supplies for people who are being treated for injuries and their families.
“These families arrived with nothing but the clothes on their backs. Many are recovering from injuries,” it said on Facebook.
Locals are continuing to grapple with the aftermath of the event.
“I know that many properties, hopes, food gardens, and other necessary supplies have been lost [and] even businesses have been affected,” Rendova Island local Pana Paza said on social media.
“I would like to call upon the responsible authorities to help us: government bodies, NGO’s, churches and our people.”
Australian Foreign Minister Penny Wong pledged $1 million for Papua New Guinea to respond to the cyclone’s impact in Bougainville and Milne Bay.
The health clinic on Simbo Island, in Solomon Islands’s Western Province, lost its roof. (Facebook: Terence Sasapitu)
Another $1.5 million will be provided to Solomon Islands, where severe impacts have been felt in remote communities across Western and Choiseul provinces.
Ms Wong said Australia stood “shoulder to shoulder” with PNG and Solomon Islands as they responded to the disaster.
The weather system began to weaken on Saturday. It has since been downgraded to a tropical low.
Other countries in the region, including Guam and Northern Mariana Islands, are carefully watching tropical cyclone Sinlaku, which is currently a category 5 storm.
Strong wind and ocean swell warnings are in place for northern parts of PNG, including Manus Island, East Sepik and West Sepik.
New Zealand cleans up
New Zealanders are also cleaning up after Cyclone Vaianu brought heavy rain and damaging winds to the country’s North Island over the weekend.
The storm brought wind gusts of more than 120km/h in some areas, with one weather station recording 220mm of rain in 24 hours at Coromandel.
Cyclone Vaianu brought heavy rain, high tides and strong winds to New Zealand’s North Island. (RNZ: Calvin Samuel)
About 10,000 homes lost power but most have been reconnected.
Authorities are still working to assess the damage in some areas, including around Whakatāne, but Emergency Management Minister Mark Mitchell said the storm was not as intense as they had prepared for.
Most of the weather warnings that were in place for the storm over the weekend have been lifted.
Bay of Plenty residents who were evacuated ahead of the cyclone returned home on Sunday.
AFP/RNZ/ABC