Residents of the southern Vanuatu island of Tanna said they were running out of food and basic supplies yesterday, after a huge cyclone tore across the South Pacific nation wreaking widespread devastation but not the heavy death toll initially feared.

Relief workers were still battling to reach many of the islands pummelled by Cyclone Pam’s gusts of more than 300kph on Friday and Saturday.

With communications cut off and reconnaissance flights revealing destroyed houses, shredded forests and damaged buildings, international aid agencies had been particularly worried about Tanna, which bore the full force of the storm.

A Reuters witness on the island of 29,000 people, about 200 kilometres south of the capital, said that while damage was extensive, it appeared most of the population had survived by sheltering in schools, churches and other sturdy buildings. “People sheltered in school buildings. We were helping one another,” Ropate Vuso, 67, told Reuters in Tanna township.

“We are running short of food, water, shelter and electricity. We have no communications, we are still waiting for the people from Parliament, the Chief and the President, but still nobody is coming.”

What we have seen is damage in some villages, at the upper range, of 70, 80, 90 per cent, one village in particular 100 per cent

There were unconfirmed reports of four deaths in and around the main town of Tanna.

Oxfam’s Vanuatu country manager, Colin Collett van Rooyen, said an assessment flight over the island of Erromango, north of Tanna with a population of around 2,000, had revealed huge damage there too.

“What we have seen is damage in some villages, at the upper range, of 70, 80, 90 per cent, one village in particular 100 per cent,” he said. “These are small villages but massive destruction.”

Aircraft flying over other outlying islands had seen large white “Hs” marked out on the ground, or residents trying to signal for help with mirrors, he added.

The United Nations said yesterday the official death toll from the cyclone was 11, revising down its earlier figure of 24, but many officials anticipate that number would rise once they are able to more thoroughly inspect the outer islands of the scattered archipelago.

Sweden said yesterday a Swedish man aged around 80 who had emigrated was among the dead.

In Vanuatu capital Port Vila the clean-up was progressing after trees were uprooted and homes flattened, but there were worries about food scarcity and health after the main local food market was destroyed and the city’s hospital severely damaged.

Australia was sending a 20-strong emergency medical assistance team of doctors, nurses, paramedics and a pharmacist. They plan to set up a temporary ward in the car park of the damaged Port Vila hospital capable of treating up to 40 patients. Thousands are still staying in shelters overnight, with a 6pm-6am curfew in place to prevent looting.

Formerly known as the New Hebrides, Vanuatu, one of the world’s poorest nations, is a sprawling cluster of more than 80 islands and 260,000 people, 2,000km northeast of the Australian city of Brisbane.

Perched on the geologically active “Ring of Fire”, it suffers from frequent earthquakes and tsunamis and has several active volcanoes, in addition to threats from storms and rising sea levels.