The reason for the delay, as I understand it, was due to the cyclone. If the 'airline suspected something was up', the aircraft would not have been allowed to fly for 2 further days.
The damage was not minor, in fact it was quite serious. As it was contained to the area around the bottom of the cowl, it was not picked up by all the pilot & engineering inspections after the event. I was told that even the engineers do not look at that part of the airframe when doing daily or EDTO inspections. I was informed that they are only required to ensure that the cowls are latched & squatting to be level with the bottom of the cowl meets that requirement, as latches that aren't fastened will be hanging down.