Relief effort under way as cyclone hits Vanuatu in South Pacific

Families in the south Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu are facing devastation as Cyclone Pam, with winds of 170mph and torrential rain, sweeps through the region.

Chloe Morrison, emergency communications officer for World Vision – which is already based in the country – has described dramatic scenes in the capital, Port Vila.

She said: "We've seen villages that have just literally been blown away. Local houses and leaf huts would have been picked up like confetti last night.

“For more than seven hours, I have been listening to wind roaring like an angry ocean as it tried to pick the house off the ground.”

Power is down and running water in the capital is unreliable. Roofs have blown off houses and are lying in the streets and entire village have been destroyed in more rural areas, reports Ms Morrison.

She said: “The damage is quite extensive in Port Vila but there are so many more vulnerable islands. I can’t even imagine what it’s like in those vulnerable communities”.

World Vision’s priority is now was to use pre-positioned supplies to provide emergency shelter, food and drinking water.

She added: “People here are subsistence farmers. Crops will be wiped out. And any surplus food will likely rot by the end of the week because of all the rain. If we can’t reach some of these communities, hunger and a lack of clean water could really become a problem.”

The category 5 storm has already caused severe damage on other islands in the region, including Solomon Islands where World Vision works.

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