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© AFP/GraphicMap showing the path of Cyclone Tomas in Fiji. Fiji's government has declared a state of disaster as the first deaths were reported in the cyclone-ravaged Pacific nation where 17,000 people have fled to evacuation centres.
The South Pacific island nation of Fiji has suffered overwhelming damage from a powerful cyclone that battered its shores for more than three days, the prime minister said Wednesday as relief operations were launched in the country's northern regions.

Fiji sent naval patrol boats laden with supplies and support staff sailing for the northern islands that bore the full brunt of the storm, while Australian and New Zealand air force planes began airlifting emergency supplies to the island group.

Only one death has been reported, but the full extent of the damage has yet to be determined because communications to the hardest hit areas were cut off for days.

"It is evident that wherever (Cyclone) Tomas has struck, the damage has been overwhelming," Commodore Frank Bainimarama, Fiji's prime minister and military chief, said Wednesday as the first reports began to roll in.

Cyclone Tomas, packing winds of up to 130 mph (205 kph) at its center and gusts of up to 175 mph (280 kph), started hitting Fiji late Friday. It blasted through the northern Lau and Lomaiviti island groups and the northern coast of the second biggest island, Vanua Levu, before losing strength as it moved out to sea Wednesday, the nation's weather office said.

Matt Boterhoven, senior forecaster at Fiji's Tropical Cyclone Center, said "the good news is it's accelerating away from Fiji ... and weakening in the cooler waters."

All storm and strong wind warnings for Fiji have been canceled, he said. Earlier sea surges of up to 23 feet (7 meters) were reported in the Lau island group, which was hit head-on by the cyclone, causing major flooding. The surges would take at least 36 hours to subside, he said.

On the northern island of Koro, seven of the 14 villages have been badly damaged, said Julian Hennings, a spokesman for the island's Dere Bay Resort.

"Some of the houses have blown away. A lot of trees have been uprooted, some of the roads have been blocked off because the waves have picked up rocks and coral and have dumped it on the road," he said. One of four landing jetties was also severely damaged.

Villagers with chain saws, shovels and other tools began a major cleanup Wednesday, he said.

A nationwide curfew was lifted Wednesday, but a state of emergency will remain in effect for 30 days in the country's northern and eastern divisions. There were no immediate reports of tourists being caught in the cyclone and flights resumed Tuesday into the international airport at Nadi, on the main island of Viti Levu.

National Disaster Management Office spokesman Pajiliai Dobui said an airplane was carrying out aerial surveillance over some northern islands Wednesday "and we hope to tell from the air how serious the damage has been."

Offshore islands remained out of all contact "so we have still not got any word about casualties," he said.

Power, water, sewage and communications were still disrupted in many northern areas, but a key airport at Labasa in northern Vanua Levu had reopened for emergency supply flights.

Troops have been deployed to provide relief, including food, water and basic supplies.

Bainimarama has appealed for international assistance and on Wednesday Hercules cargo planes from Australia and New Zealand flew to Fiji with relief supplies, including tarpaulins, food and water treatment tablets.

The planes were later to carry out reconnaissance work and damage assessment.

"It appears that after the initial reconnaissance work's undertaken ... it'll be necessary to fly some supplies from Nadi or Suva to the affected areas," New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully told National Radio. He later announced initial cash aid of $700,000.

Australian Foreign Minister Stephen Smith pledged $1 million dollars in initial aid, adding that, "Australia will consider further assistance for reconstruction once damage has been more fully assessed."