State of emergency to help in Lam clean-up

REMOTE indigenous communities have survived Cyclone Lam with a "remarkable" record of no deaths or major injuries, police say.

Areas of the Northern Territory hardest-hit by Cyclone Lam have had a state of emergency declared.

HOUSES with their roofs peeled back like tin cans. Trees torn out by the roots and tossed onto buildings. A 4WD crushed by a huge trunk. Metal telephone towers levelled.

RESCUE and recovery teams have entered the four remote Northern Territory communities hit hardest by Cyclone Lam and are beginning to catalogue the damage.