Editorial: Cyclone Pam - Aid to Vanuatu Begins

By Helen Clark

Australia and New Zealand have begun to provide assistance to the islands, which have been devastated by a cyclone.

Aid to Vanuatu has begun after Cyclone Pam ripped through the islands five days ago. A high proportion of the population is now homeless and 90 percent of the buildings in capital Port Vila were seriously damaged. Aid has begun to the small Oceanian nation’s outlying islands, which have been cut off since Pam hit. Some 80 percent of the 230,000-plus population live rurally. According to the UN, 3,300 people may remain homeless.

There have been reports of locals on some islands signaling survey planes with mirrors or drawing large white “H’s” on the ground after phone and internet connections were taken out. The death toll however, has remained relatively low – 24 at the time of writing – although that number may rise. Experts have partly attributed this to preparedness and a lifetime of dealing with natural disasters. Houses are designed to keep people safe, with cyclone rooms that have no windows and low doorways. Crops across the country have also been destroyed and aid agencies are keen to point out the utterly devastating scale of the damage.

Capital Port Vila is considered the most vulnerable city in the world when it comes to natural disasters, according to Verisk Maplecroft, which puts together the Natural Hazards Risk Atlas. It and Taipei are the only two cities outside of the Philippines to be among the top 10 most vulnerable cities in the Atlas. In addition to cyclones, the Vanuatu capital is threatened by tsunamis, earthquakes and flooding. 

Read the full story at The Diplomat