Pam ‘wiped out’ Vanuatu development

Cyclone Pam has “wiped out” development in Vanuatu, its president said, amid ongoing concern over residents of the Pacific nation’s outlying islands.

Aid has begun arriving in the storm-hit nation – one of the world’s poorest – where trees and power lines have been felled and many buildings destroyed.

Aid agencies say it could be one of the worst disasters ever to hit the region.

The situation on some remote islands closer to the eye of the storm is not yet known as communications are down.

The BBC’s Jon Donnison, who is tweeting from the capital, Port Vila, says just about every house there has received some damage.

Jon Donnison sent this image of damaged house in Port Vila

Aerial images of the capital show houses completely flattened. One village chief told our correspondent there was a desperate need for fresh water supplies.

The official death toll is eight, but this is expected to rise as rescuers reach more the remote islands.

At the scene: Phil Mercer, BBC News, Port Vila

Many people in Port Vila live in flimsy housing which was torn apart by the powerful winds

The sense of devastation is absolutely immense and when you land it doesn’t take long for that sense of devastation to increase

Many family homes have been stripped of their roofs or flattened by very powerful winds and torrential rain.

The air here is very thick with smoke because the cleanup has already begun – the debris is being chopped down, collected and burned. There is a sense here that people will rebuild but it only takes a brief moment in the capital to realise that this rebuilding effort will take many months if not years.

This is a vast archipelago, the population is spread over more than 60 islands and communications are down. It’s very difficult for the authorities to have a true picture of the devastation but it’s clear the number of dead will increase when communications are made with those outlying areas.

‘A monster’

Speaking in Japan where he had been attending an international conference on disaster preparedness, President Baldwin Lonsdale called the storm “devastating”.

“I term it as a monster, a monster – it’s a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu,” he said. “After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out.”

He also said he had not been able to confirm that his own family was safe. “As the leader of the nation, my whole heart is for the people, the nation.”

The president said climate change had contributed to the disaster, saying his country had seen changing weather patterns, rising seas and heavier-than-average rain.

Pacific nations have repeatedly said they will be among the first victims of climate change, though scientists say this is not necessarily the cause of individual powerful storms.

Residents have been salvaging belongings from damaged homes

An aerial image taken by Care Australia’s Tom Perry as he flew into Port Vila shows flattened houses

Many houses not built with concrete have been flattened

Aid is being sent from several nations

The category five storm, with winds of up to 300km/h (185mph), struck populated areas when it reached Vanuatu early on Saturday local time (+11 GMT).

It is now moving down the east coast of New Zealand. The storm has weakened significantly but about 100 people have been evacuated from coastal areas in Gisbourne, on the east of the North Island. An alert is also in place in the Chatham Islands, about 680km south-east of Wellington.

‘Utter devastation’

There is major concern about islands to the south, including Tanna, which was in the direct path of the storm. The Australian Red Cross tweeted that it had heard of “utter devastation” there.

Many people in the region live in basic housing with limited communications which have now been severed.

Paolo Malatu, co-ordinator for the National Disaster Management Office, told the Associated Press news agency that planes and helicopters had been sent to fly over the islands and assess the situation.

Military planes carrying supplies have started arriving from Australia and New Zealand, and other countries have pledged to help. Commercial flights were due to resume on Monday.

In a statement on Sunday, Oxfam Australia said this was “likely to be one of the worst disasters ever seen in the Pacific”.

World Vision said it had not been able to contact more than 30 of its staff.

Pam had already caused major damage on other Pacific islands, including Kiribati and the Solomon Islands. Tuvalu declared a state of emergency after the cyclone caused flash floods there.

BBC