By Pacific affairs reporter
Liam Fox and agencies
Posted March 15, 2015 20:12:50
Photo: People start clearing up debris and dealing with their damaged homes in Seaside, Port Villa, after Tropical Cyclone Pam, March 15, 2014. (Australian Red Cross: Chris McCowage)
Photo: A building in Vanuatu damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam. (World Vision)
Photo: Palm fronds scattered across a waterfront path in Port Vila after Cyclone Pam on March 15, 2015. (CARE Australia)
Photo: A number of destroyed boats in Port Vila on March 15, 2015, after Cyclone Pam. (CARE Australia)
Photo: The damaged office of CARE Australia in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam on March 15, 2015. (CARE Australia)
Photo: Dozens of palms lay flattened in Port Vila after Cyclone Pam on March 15, 2015. (CARE Australia)
Photo: A man runs from a wave swept dangerously high in Port Vila in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam on March 15, 2015. (CARE Australia)
Photo: A cluster of destroyed homes in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam on March 14, 2015. (ADRA Vanuatu)
Photo: A destroyed car underneath a large fallen tree in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam on March 14, 2015. (ADRA Vanuatu)
Photo: A fallen power line in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam on March 14, 2015. (ADRA Vanuatu)
Photo: A family's belongings lay scattered inside and around their destroyed home after Cyclone Pam on March 14, 2015. (ADRA Vanuatu)
Photo: Trees felled by Tropical Cyclone Pam block the roads in Port Vila. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Residents clean up in Port Vila, Vanuatu, after Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: A boy returns to his damaged home in Port Vila after Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: A corrugated iron roof lies strewn in a Port Vila street, torn and twisted by Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: A deserted Port Vila store damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Two men help rebuild homes in Port Vila following Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Storm surge lashes the Port Vila shore as Tropical Cyclone Pam hits. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: A woman assists in the cleanup after Tropical Cyclone Pam ravaged Port Vila. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Port Vila residents gather near shop fronts damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Vanuatu police patrol the streets of Port Vila after Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Port Vila residents clean up after Tropical Cyclone Pam. (UNICEF Pacific)
- Photo: Tropical Cyclone Pam brought a storm surge which caused damage in Port Vila. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Boats damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam in Port Vila harbour. (UNICEF Pacific)
Photo: Fallen trees left after Tropical Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu. (350: Isso Nihmei)
Photo: A building in Vanuatu damaged by Tropical Cyclone Pam. (350: Isso Nihmei)
Photo: Tropical Cyclone Pam knocked over trees and damaged buildings as it swept over Vanuatu. (350: Isso Nihmei)
Photo: Heavy rain and high tides has damaged causeways connecting islets in Tarawa, Kiribati. (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Photo: A resident assesses damage caused by Cyclone in Tarawa, Kiribati, on March 11, 2015. (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Photo: A flooded street in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam on March 15, 2015. (CARE Australia)
Photo: Although the eye of Cyclone Pam did not pass directly over Kiribati, the storm bought heavy rains and flooding to the Pacific Island nation on March 11, 2015 (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Photo: Storm surges and severe winds from Cyclone Pam slam Tarawa, Kiribati on March 11, 2015. (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Photo: Residents leave as strong winds and storm surges lash Tarawa, Kiribati on March 11, 2015. (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Photo: The causeway between Betio and Bairiki in Kiribat suffered extreme damage from the impacts of Cyclone Pam. (Otobina Karissa Temakei)
Photo: The bridge connecting Betio and Bairiki in Kiribati is near collapse from the bad weather generated by Cyclone Pam. (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Photo: Cyclone Pam is causing prolonged squally weather and sea swells in Tuvalu. (Supplied: Plan International Australia)
Much-needed aid and relief supplies have begun to arrive in Vanuatu after Tropical Cyclone Pam tore through the Pacific nation, killing at least 10 people.
With winds of more than 270 kilometres per hour, Cyclone Pam razed homes, smashed boats and washed away roads and bridges as it struck late on Friday and into Saturday.
A state of emergency was declared for Shefa province — which takes in the country's capital, Port Vila — on Sunday. Aid workers described the storm, which also hit Kiribati and Tuvalu, as catastrophic.
At least 10 people were reported dead, including two people on Tanna Island, about 100 kilometres south of Port Vila, but the toll was almost certain to rise as rescuers reached the low-lying archipelago's outer islands.
Red Cross official Aurelia Balpe said she had spoken to a pilot who reported "widespread destruction" on Tanna.
"An eyewitness pilot managed to land in ... Tanna. He saw some communities and described them as flattened," she said.
"We have grave fears for the many communities we haven't reached yet."
Witnesses in Port Vila described sea surges of up to eight metres and widespread flooding as the cyclone hit on the weekend.
Alice Clements, a spokeswoman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Port Vila, said it was as if a bomb had gone off in the centre of town.
Planes arrive carrying cargo and emergency workers
Two Australian military aircraft, including one with medical experts, search and rescue teams and emergency supplies, touched down in the capital today, while a UN team was also preparing to go in with members drawn from as far away as Europe.
A New Zealand Hercules aircraft carrying eight tonnes of supplies and an initial team also landed on Sunday at Port Vila's airport, which has been partially reopened.
Sune Gudnitz, from the UN's Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, said it was a significant development.
"That's really good, getting people on the ground that can start doing the work including clearing up the airports so that we can get traffic in," she told the ABC.
Australia's contribution is part of an initial assistance package announced by Foreign Affair's Minister Julie Bishop, which included $5 million for Australian NGOs and UN agencies on the ground in Vanuatu.
New Zealand has offered NZ$2.5 million in initial aid, while Britain, which jointly ruled Vanuatu with France until independence in 1980, has offered up to two million pounds ($3.86 million) in assistance.
The World Bank said it was exploring a swift insurance payout to the government.
Vanuatu lands minister Ralph Regenvanu told the ABC communications were down outside Port Vila and many areas remained inaccessible.
He said he expected the state of emergency would widen to include other provinces after damage outside the capital had been assessed."
Significant damage after Tropical Cyclone Pam in Port Vila. (Credit: YouTube/Isso Nihmei, 350 Vanuatu Coordinator)
Vanuatu's president 'fears the worst' in outer islands
Vanuatu's president Baldwin Lonsdale, who was in Japan on Sunday for a UN disaster recovery conference, said he feared the storm's impact would be "the very, very, very worst" in isolated outer islands.
Mr Lonsdale said damage was still being assessed but most houses in Port Vila had been damaged or destroyed.
"People are finding shelter where they can live for the night," he told Reuters.
"The state of damage is still being assessed, we do not know exactly the extent of the damage."
Formerly known as the New Hebrides, Vanuatu is sprawling cluster of islands and 260,000 people, 2,000 kilometres north-east of Brisbane.
It is among the world's poorest countries and highly prone to disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and storms.
Aid officials said the storm was comparable in strength to Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2013 and killed more than 6,000 people, and looked set to be one of the worst natural disasters the Pacific region has ever experienced.
ABC/Reuters
Topics: storm-event, weather, storm-disaster, disasters-and-accidents, cyclone, cyclones, vanuatu, kiribati, tuvalu, asia
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