All communication has been lost with Swain's Island, and American Samoan officials were considering a joint New Zealand-United States operation to re-establish contact and assess the damage, utilising New Zealand flights sent to assist Tokelau.

Alex Jennings, the Swain's Island representative who is based in Pago Pago, expressed "grave concerns" to the American Samoa Emergency Operations Command and asked for "a flyover, food drop and medical supplies drop."

As the powerful storm headed southeast, packing winds up to 140 kilometres (85 miles) an hour, residents on the New Zealand administered-Tokelau islands began counting the cost of the battering from gale-force winds and high seas.

One person was seriously injured when cut by flying debris, two people had to be rescued after being washed out to sea and seven houses were washed way, Tokelau Telecommunications general manager Tino Vitale told the Australian-Pacific Centre for Emergency and Disaster Information.

The injured man was on Fakaofo atoll which does not have a doctor.

Tokelau's administrator Neil Walters told Radio New Zealand the cyclone inflicted widespread damage and he would be seeking food and medical supplies from Wellington.

"There's damage to the infrastructure... the roads have been broken up, the power system is down, a lot of damage to buildings, a lot of equipment lost, boats scattered all over the island, along with debris and building materials and so on," he said.

The only school on the main atoll of Nokonunu was destroyed.

Dawn Alailima, at the American Samoa Emergency Operations Command, said there were three families on Swain's Island, while other reports put the exact number of people between four and 20.

Swain's has been isolated since Cyclone Olaf two weeks ago. Alailima said if New Zealand planes are to assist Tokelau they might consider a joint operation with the US for dealing with Swain's Island.

Tokelau, nearly 500 kilometres north of Samoa, has a population of 1,400 and a total land area of about 12 square kilometres (five miles). It has no airport and is reached by boat from Samoa.

Percy was building in intensity to a Category 4 cyclone and heading southeast towards the northern Cooks. But it was forecast to make a southerly turn in the next 12-36 hours, which would take the storm between Niue and the Cooks, similar to Olaf's path.

Authorities in Tuvalu, Tokelau, Samoa, American Samoa, Wallis and Futuna, Fiji, the Cook Islands, Niue, Tonga and French Polynesia were urged to continue monitoring Percy's progress in case of any sudden change of direction.

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