Twenty-four people are confirmed to have been killed in Vanuatu by Cyclone Pam, and the death toll is expected to rise further.
Aid workers arriving on the ground have described destruction and residents in need of food and fresh water. World Vision’s national director in Vanuatu Michael Wolfe says the cyclone was “nine hours of winds like an angry ocean.” He has visited the outer island of Tanna and says there’s only one shed-like general store still standing with food and other supplies.
“All of the other stores have been ravaged, roofs have blown off and windows blown out. Some of the buildings are still standing but it’s just a skeleton of cement blocks.”
Radio New Zealand International’s Koroi Hawkins arrived yesterday evening and says he doesn’t recognise Port Vila. “The building damage is frightening. I saw a huge warehouse made of brick that the wall had been split in two down the middle by the sheer force of the wind.”
LISTEN to Koroi Hawkins speaking to Morning Report’s Susie Fergusson from Port Vila:
The cyclone was carrying winds of up to 300 kilometres an hour when it tore through the Pacific nation last week.
Relief supplies have been arriving on military aircraft, from New Zealand and several other countries, delivering water, sanitation kits, medicines and temporary shelters. “But aid workers on the ground warn of difficulties in distributing supplies across the country's many islands and say it will take days to reach remote villages flattened by the huge storm.”
Young Life is a Vanuatu Reggae Band who were recording in New Zealand when the cyclone hit. So far, they’ve managed to talk to an uncle in neighbouring New Caledonia who has confirmed that their immediate families are OK, but they’re still not sure what they’ll be facing when they return home. (They’ve since found out that one of the band members’ grandmothers is among the dead.)
Drummer William Jimmy says they have seen pictures on Facebook that shows everything is damaged. “We have no idea if our homes are still there. When we go back on Saturday, I think we will have some work to do…Right now we haven’t got any communication with our families back at home. Electricity broke down, and the telecommunication network, so it’s hard to get in touch with our families.”
Vanuatu is no stranger to cyclones but this is the largest and most destructive they’ve seen. “Back in Vanuatu, we depend a lot on local foods – we grow our food. Now we have a cyclone and it damaged everything. So when we go back we will try our best to replant and the money we raise [on Wednesday] it will allow us to buy food.”
Young Life is performing, along with Newtown Rocksteady, at a charity gig in Wellington on Wednesday. They’re hoping to raise a small fund to buy blankets and food for people back home.
A group is also gathering items for a pop up store fundraiser to be held at Conch in Auckland on Sunday from 3pm. Organiser Krishna Mariñas says “we are focusing on raising funds and getting people to come down and buy a drink and some food where Conch will donate.”
@Xenojay @meganjwhelan @amscraig and there are unconfirmed rumours of a special performance. @conchrecords Sunday 3pm
— TruffleHuntinPiggie (@bekathrills) March 16, 2015
Emergency Supplies are also heading to Tuvalu and Kiribati has received reports of severe damage to three of the nation’s southern islands.
Red Cross, Unicef, Oxfam and World Vision have all launched appeals, and the New Zealand government has pledged financial support along with Defence Force assistance.
