WELLINGTON, New Zealand » Relief workers were trying desperately on Tuesday to reach Vanuatu’s remote outer islands that were smashed by a monstrous cyclone, as the United Nations reported that 24 people were confirmed dead and 3,300 displaced by the storm that tore through the South Pacific archipelago.

Radio and telephone communications with outer islands have not yet been established three days after what the country’s president called a "monster" storm, the U.N. Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said.

The agency said 3,300 people are sheltering in 37 evacuation centers on the main island of Efate and in the provinces of Torba and Penama. "Basic emergency rations are being provided to evacuees, including water, rice, tinned fish or meat, coffee, tea, sugar, Milo, biscuits and other items," the report said.

Military aircraft from New Caledonia, Australia and New Zealand have been conducting aerial assessments of the damage, and aid groups were on Tuesday trying to reach Vanuatu’s hard-hit outer islands, which officials in the capital, Port Vila, have been unable to contact due to a breakdown in the nation’s communications infrastructure.

The latest report came as Vanuatu’s president rushed back to his country, which has repeatedly warned it is already suffering devastating effects from climate change with coastal areas being washed away.

Looking weary and red-eyed, Baldwin Lonsdale told The Associated Press that Cyclone Pam destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the buildings in the capital alone. Lonsdale was interviewed on Monday in Sendai, in northeastern Japan, where he had been attending a U.N. disaster conference when the cyclone struck. He was expected to reach Vanuatu on Tuesday.

"This is a very devastating cyclone in Vanuatu. I term it as a monster, a monster," he said. "It’s a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu. After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out."

Lonsdale said because of the communications blackout, even he could not reach his family. "We do not know if our families are safe or not. As the leader of the nation, my whole heart is for the people, the nation," he said.

Vanuatu has a population of 267,000 people spread over 65 islands. About 47,000 people live in the capital.

Officials were struggling to determine the scale of devastation from the cyclone, which tore through the nation early Saturday, packing winds of 270 kilometers (168 miles) per hour. Bridges were down outside Port Vila, making travel by vehicle impossible even around Efate.

"The indications are showing that there will be extensive injuries if the people didn’t go to higher ground (on the outer islands) and there might be a lot of fatalities," the director of Vanuatuan Prime Minister Joe Natuman’s office, Benjamin Shing, told reporters in Port Vila.

The damaged airport in Port Vila has reopened, allowing some aid and relief flights to reach the country. Lonsdale said a wide range of items were needed, from tarpaulins and water containers to medical supplies and construction tools. Those on the ground pleaded for help to arrive quickly.

The city’s hospital was overwhelmed with patients, and some beds were moved outside due to fears the building is no longer safe.

"The wards have all been evacuated because of structural damage," surgeon Richard Leona told Australia’s Channel 7. "We are badly needing this help. We need to get an urgent drug supply and food and also set up a mobile hospital to deal with the influx of patients coming in."

In Port Vila, smashed boats littered the harbor, and sodden piles of household belongings tangled among twisted tree branches lay where some homes once stood.

Many of the city’s residents were clearing away downed trees and cleaning up what was left of their houses. Those left homeless were generally staying with loved ones whose houses had withstood the storm, or sleeping in temporary shelters provided by aid agencies, said UNICEF spokeswoman Alice Clements.

Access to food and water is an urgent concern, said Clements, who is in Port Vila. Much of the city’s water supply has been tainted, so residents are boiling water to drink.

Clements said she spoke to a woman who is nine months pregnant and lost her home in the storm. The woman’s situation, along with many others, is growing desperate, Clements said.

"She has no water, no food, no power," she said. "This is an incredibly dangerous time."

Some commercial flights have resumed, although services are limited. Georgina Roberts, New Zealand’s High Commissioner to Vanuatu, said two defense force planes were sent to retrieve about 100 stranded New Zealand tourists.

In Sydney, shaken Australian tourists returning from Vanuatu greeted loved ones with hugs and terrifying tales of the storm’s wrath.

"I’ve never seen or heard anything like that noise," Ralph Scott said after arriving at Sydney’s airport. "It was frightening, it was supersonic, it was terrible."

Scott said the aftermath of the storm was "utter devastation."

"Houses, roads washed away," he said. "People walking around like zombies."

Associated Press writers Kristen Gelineau in Sydney, Elaine Kurtenbach in Sendai, Japan, and Edith M. Lederer at the United Nations contributed to this report.