Dozens thought killed in Vanuatu as huge storm continues to rage
Print Edition
RESIDENTS in cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu hunkered in emergency shelters for a second straight night yesterday after venturing out to find their homes damaged or blown away by the powerful storm, aid workers said.
Packing winds of 270 kilometers per hour, Cyclone Pam tore through the tiny South Pacific archipelago early yesterday, leaving a trail of destruction and unconfirmed reports of dozens of deaths.
Power remained out across Vanuatu later yesterday and people on many of the outer islands had no access to running water or communications, said Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer in the capital, Port Vila.
Communications have been so problematic that her aid group hasn’t yet been able to account for many of its own 76 staff on the islands and authorities have been unable to assess the extent of the damage, she said.
“I can say that for anybody who wasn’t in a secure shelter last night, it would have been a very tough time,” she said.
Vanuatu has a population of 267,000 spread over 65 islands. About 47,000 people live in the capital.
Authorities on Friday moved thousands of people in Port Vila into 23 evacuation centers. With the winds and rain easing yesterday, many people stepped out only to find that their homes were missing a roof or had disappeared altogether.
Morrison said she’d heard reports of entire villages being destroyed.
“It’s still really quite dangerous outside,” she said.
United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said the impact and scope of the disaster wasn’t clear, but he feared the damage and destruction could be widespread.
“We hope the loss of life will be minimal,” he said at the World Conference on Disaster Risk and Reduction in Japan.
Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale, who was also at the conference, said: “I do not really know what impact the cyclone has had on Vanuatu. I am speaking to you today with a heart that is so heavy.
“I stand to appeal on behalf of the government and the people to give a helping hand in this disaster.”
The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs said there were unconfirmed reports of 44 deaths in Vanuatu’s northeastern islands after Pam moved off its expected track.
New Zealand pledged NZ$1 million (US$734,000) to help the relief effort, while Australia said it is preparing to send a crisis response team.
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