( CNN ) -- Somalia appealed for international help after a cyclone hit the northern region this week , killing at least 115 people , and sweeping livestock and homes into the ocean . `` The number of people killed will go up , '' said Ahmed Adan , a spokesman for the Somali prime minister . `` Most of the area is devastated . Whole villages were swept away . Some of the parts we ca n't even reach , a lot of people are missing . '' The cyclone made landfall Sunday in the semi-autonomous Puntland region . It triggered days of heavy rains and flash floods that swept homes , boats , cows , goats and other farm animals into the Indian Ocean . The region heavily depends on agriculture as a source of income . In a news statement , the African Union Mission in Somalia said up to 300 people are feared dead and hundreds unaccounted for . Clean water , blankets , nonperishable foods , medicine and helicopters to reach the affected areas are among the most crucial needs , Adan said . `` There is a particularly urgent need for temporary shelter to protect the many displaced and vulnerable people from the elements , '' Prime Minister Abdi Farah Shirdon said in a statement . `` I appeal to international aid agencies to provide any assistance they can to the thousands of people affected by this devastating cyclone . '' Areas affected include Dangaroyo and Eyl , the latter a hub where pirates launch attacks on vessels traveling in the shipping lanes of the Indian Ocean and the Gulf of Aden . The self-governing Puntland region has long maintained that it cut ties with the Somali government over power squabbles . Somalia pledged $ 1 million to help those affected by the cyclone . Cyclones , typhoons and hurricanes are regional names for severe storms . What 's referred to as a typhoon in the northwest Pacific Ocean is considered a cyclone in the Indian Ocean and a hurricane in the Atlantic Ocean .
`` The number of people killed will go up , '' government spokesman says . The cyclone triggers days of heavy rains and flash floods . Bridges toppled in Puntland region , home of famed pirate hub of Eyl .