After the fearsome blow dealt by Tropical Cyclone Pam, residents of the capital of the Pacific nation Vanuatu are starting to try to repair the extensive damage to their homes and livelihoods.
But the big unknown is the scale of the destruction the huge storm wrought elsewhere on the archipelago of more than 80 islands as it rampaged across them on Friday and Saturday.
With communications down outside the capital, aid organizations have been left guessing.
The humanitarian group Oxfam has said “grave fears were held for those people on the outer islands with little or no protection” from the cyclone’s 155 mph (250 kph) winds. It warned that the storm “is likely to be one of the worst disasters ever seen in the Pacific.”
Uncertainty over number of casualties
To many Westerners, Vanuatu is a holiday destination boasting crystal blue waters and luxury yachts. But it’s also one of the poorest nations in the Pacific, and many of its 260,000 inhabitants live in flimsy homes built of thatch — no match for one of the strongest storms ever to make landfall.
The cyclone inflicted severe damage on the capital, Port Vila, damaging most of the houses, tossing trees across roads and flooding parts of the hospital.
Six people have so far been confirmed dead and 30 others injured, according to the country’s National Disaster Management Office.
The agency said Monday it had no casualty figures from Vanuatu’s other six provinces yet because the communication network is still down. About 65 islands in the sprawling archipelago are inhabited.
‘People need our help’
In Port Vila on Monday, there were abundant signs of people working to get their lives back on track despite the widespread damage.
Roads that had been blocked off by fallen trees were cleared and traffic was moving again. Some residents were repairing or replacing roofs that had been ripped apart by the storm.
The main airport was back in business, allowing military aircraft from Australia and New Zealand to bring in aid workers and supplies. The first commercial flight since the storm also landed Monday.
But amid the small signs of progress, aid groups say the needs of the thousands of people left homeless by the cyclone are huge.
“Homes have been lost, crops are destroyed. The damage is enormous, and people need our help,” said Aurelia Balpe, head of the Red Cross in the Pacific. “Yet it will still take some time before we really understand the full extent of the damage.”
Some 60,000 children are in need of assistance, UNICEF reported Sunday.
‘Incredibly hard hit’
In a country where most people rely on small-scale farming, many now lack the basics of life: clean water, food and shelter.
“This is going to take an enormous effort over the coming weeks and months,” said Tom Perry, a spokesman for the aid group CARE International.
He said CARE hopes to have some of its team members on a flight Monday to one of the islands in the south of the archipelago.
“It’s certainly deeply concerning because those islands down there were incredibly hard hit,” he told CNN from Port Vila.
Vanuatu has officially declared a state of emergency, opening the door for other countries to help.
The country’s remote location adds to the challenges facing the international response. Port Vila is more than 1,770 kilometers (1,100 miles) northeast of Brisbane on Australia’s east coast, and some 2,200 kilometers north of Auckland, the closest city in New Zealand.
