Fiji cyclone death toll reaches 42

A local resident watches over her son in a makeshift hut after Cyclone Winston destroyed her home in the village of Naqia in Tailevu, Fiji. — AFP

The death toll from super-cyclone Winston jumped to 42 Wednesday as concerns grew for remote Fijian villages still waiting for help after the most powerful storm in the Pacific nation’s history.

While international aid efforts are intensifying, with New Zealand saying it will send two navy ships, relief teams are yet to reach some isolated communities devastated in the weekend tempest.

“42 Fijians now confirmed dead — disaster officials continue to deploy teams to help those affected across Fiji,” government spokesman Dan Gavidi tweeted, raising the toll from 29 given Tuesday.

The Red Cross said the body count was likely to rise further as word filtered back from far-flung corners of the island nation.

“The numbers will continue to change as we have better access to information and establish communications,” the acting head of the Red Cross’s Pacific office Ahmad Sami said.

Severe tropical cyclone Winston lashed the Pacific nation overnight Saturday, packing wind gusts of 325 kilometres (202 miles) per hour and leaving a trail of destruction.