Cyclone Ami lashes Fiji

A cyclone has hit Fiji, destroying homes and flooding parts of the South Pacific archipelago.

The government declared wide areas of the north and east of the country a disaster zone, after winds of up to 185 km/h (115 mph) caused widespread flooding and power blackouts.

Two children are feared dead on the tiny island of Druadrua, after Cyclone Ami destroyed the church in which they had been sheltering.

Ami beat a path across many of Fiji's islands

Communications were cut with the second-largest island, Vanua Levu, which has 200,000 residents - a quarter of Fiji's population.

Emergency officials managed to restore some telephone links with the island's main towns of Labasa, on the northern coast, and Savusavu.

Their work was hampered by extensive flooding, which left Labasa under 1.2 metres (four feet) of water.

The floods later subsided but left a lot of damage, officials said.

Aerial surveys

Fiji's Prime Minister, Laisenia Qarase, told Radio Australia there were reports of "extensive damage" to the areas in the cyclone's path.

The storm lashed the north of the country and moved south along the eastern side of the island chain.

Mr Qarase said he would send officials to make an aerial survey on Wednesday.

New Zealand has sent an air force plane which is expected to go on an assessment mission at first light on Wednesday.

Australian aid officials said they would join the flight and offer humanitarian assistance where needed.

Fishermen missing

Fiji's disaster management committee said late on Tuesday that a boat carrying seven men on a fishing trip near Vanua Levu was missing after it failed to return home on Monday.

The men may have found shelter in one of Fiji's hundreds of bays and lagoons.

There are a number of tourist resorts in the north of Fiji, but there have been no reports of serious damage.

Weather forecasters said that while Ami was not as strong as last month's Cyclone Zoe, which caused major damage in the Solomon Islands, it was expected to affect a much wider area.

Earlier this month, residents of the Solomon Islands' atolls of Tikopia and Anuta were found safe after taking shelter in caves when Zoe battered the area with 360 km/h (225 mph) winds.