NOUMEA, France - Eleven people were reported missing on Tuesday after torrential rain triggered landslides on the French overseas territory of New Caledonia in the South Pacific, officials said.

Rain has been battering the remote islands since the weekend and two mudslides occurred in the Houailou area, around 235 kilometers (150 miles) northwest of the capital Noumea early on Tuesday.

"The numbers could change because it's extremely difficult to come by information," civil safety spokesman Olivier Ciry told AFP.

A team of police and a mobile health clinic had managed to reach one of the affected areas but not the second, he said.

All roads, electrical supplies and telephone lines to the area had been cut off and poor weather was stopping rescue helicopters from reaching the disaster zones.

Five homes had been swept away and several children were among the missing. A further five people were injured.

"The chance of weather conditions improving in the coming hours is not good," the government said in a statement, advising residents to avoid all but essential travel and to take extra care.

The worst affected communities of Ouakaya and Gouareu, located in mountainous areas, count several dozen inhabitants.

Although the rain had been especially heavy in the east, the main road on the west coast had been cut and schools in several areas has been shut.