SYDNEY — The government of Vanuatu declared a nationwide state of emergency after at least eight people died and communications with outer islands remain severed by Cyclone Pam, which tore through the South Pacific archipelago leaving a trail of devastation.
“This was a cyclone that flattened houses and, unfortunately, to find missing people and those who are unaccounted for, it is going to take a huge search and rescue effort,” Chloe Morrison, a World Vision emergency communications officer, said by phone from the capital, Port Vila. “Connections have been down here, so we haven’t had any reports in from the outlying islands either.”
Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale described the storm as “a monster” and said the full impact of the cyclone was not yet known. He said in a statement that his country was facing “a major calamity.”
Vanuatu, an archipelago of about 80 islands, was a British- French colony until it gained independence in 1980. Home to some 277,000 people, it’s located about 1,500 miles northeast of Sydney.
The government said over 30 people were known to have been injured and that many others had been made homeless. Bridges linking the capital Port Vila with the rest of the island have been destroyed, Lonsdale said.
Morrison said officials from Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office confirmed to her agency that eight people had died during the storm, and further meetings with updates would be held during the day.
On Sunday, aid was beginning to arrive in Vanuatu, with air force planes carrying supplies from Australia and New Zealand. Other countries pledged aid, including the U.K. which offered 2 million pounds ($2.9 million).
The International Monetary Fund and the World Bank said they were ready to offer help.
“We are prepared to assist Vanuatu with quick, unbureaucratic steps in dealing with the immediate aftermath of the catastrophe and rebuilding the economy over the coming months,” IMF Managing Director Christine Lagarde said in an e- mailed statement.
Pam made a late change of course to hit Vanuatu directly early Saturday, tearing through the islands with winds as strong as 270 kilometers (170 miles) per hour.
“It’s absolute devastation here,” Morrison said. “The roads are littered with trees, roofs have flown off buildings and are strewn everywhere, houses were literally picked up and flattened like an Ikea flat-pack.”
People who left evacuation centers to return to their villages found their homes damaged or blown away, Morrison said. Winds had dropped and the weather cleared Sunday, she said.
Australian Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said there are unconfirmed reports that people may have died in the north of the archipelago.
United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon said he was concerned that damage and destruction could be widespread.
“We hope the loss of life will be minimal,” Ban said Saturday at a conference on disaster risk and reduction in Japan, according to a statement.
Lonsdale, also attending the conference, told delegates he was speaking “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,” he said.
The UN’s children’s agency estimated that 54,000 children were among those affected, while Oxfam’s team in Vanuatu reported damage to the hospital, morgue and schools in the capital. Clean water, sanitation and hygiene supplies are also a major issue for those left homeless, Oxfam said in a statement.
“At least 90 percent of housing here in Port Vila has been badly damaged, the kids have nowhere to go to school, there is no power at the hospital which has also flooded in parts and damage to the state mortuary means we need a temporary mortuary set up quickly,” Oxfam’s Country Director Colin Collet van Rooyen said in the statement.
Two military aircraft had been sent to Vanuatu and A$5 million ($3.8 million) will be provided to support aid groups, Bishop told the Australian Broadcasting Corp. Sunday.
“We are assessing the damage and destruction across the Pacific caused by the devastating impact of Tropical Cyclone Pam,” she said. “We will also be deploying humanitarian suppliers to provide support for up to 5,000 people in the form of water, sanitation and shelter.”
New Zealand on Sunday increased its pledge to NZ$2.5 million ($1.8 million) from NZ$1 million a day earlier to help with relief efforts. It also announced two more defense force relief flights will head to the disaster scene Monday.
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