Cyclone strikes healthiest part of Great Barrier Reef

A supplied image shows the damage on Daydream Island after Cyclone Debbie passed through the region known as the Whitsundays in Queensland, Australia, March 29, 2017. Australian Defence Force/Handout via REUTERS

SYDNEY (Reuters) - A cyclone that left a trail of destruction in northeast Australia and New Zealand has also damaged one of the few healthy sections of the Great Barrier Reef to have escaped large-scale bleaching, scientists said on Monday.

The natural devastation adds to the human and economic toll of Cyclone Debbie, which killed at least six people in recent weeks and severed rail transport lines in one of the world's biggest coal precincts.