An Australian man in Vanuatu for his wedding anniversary says Cyclone Pam provided a night he’ll never forget.

Rob Filby and his wife were evacuated from their resort as the category five cyclone approached the tiny island nation on Friday.

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Sheltering in another resort with about 200 other people, he said the storm sounded like “pounding surf” when it hit, throwing objects around.

“It was amazing, it’s a night I’ll never forget,” Mr Filby told the Nine Network on Sunday.

He said he hadn’t been allowed outside the grounds of the resort, but the devastation was obvious.

“It looks like a huge boulder has just rolled down the valley,” he said.

“We’ve heard a lot of people may have lost their lives, particularly on the outlying islands.”

Tropical Cyclone Pam smashed into the South Pacific island chain on Friday, bringing flooding, high seas and winds topping 250km/h – one of the worst storms in the island nation’s history.

At least eight people in and around the capital Port Vila are confirmed dead but the toll is expected to rise, with unconfirmed reports of 44 killed and entire villages being destroyed in the outer islands where communications remain down.