Vanuatu-IOM has dispatched a team to assist in Vanuatu in the wake of a category 5 tropical cyclone, Cyclone Pam, which struck the 65-island Pacific Archipelago, including its capital of Port Vila, On Thursday 12 March.

Cyclone Pam also left widespread damage in the Solomon Islands, Kiribati, Tuvalu and New Caledonia. 

IOM is working in close coordination with the Government of Vanuatu and the United Nations Disaster Assessment and Coordination (UNDAC) emergency response group.

So far 24 fatalities have been confirmed but the number of deaths is likely to increase significantly due to flash floods, as well as the high winds which hit the island. About 3,300 people are reportedly displaced are sheltering in 37 evacuation centres in Torba and Penama Provinces, and the main island of Efate. There are 2,865 evacuees in 28 ECs in Efate alone.

IOM’s Director General, William Lacy Swing, immediately released a USD 100,000 grant from IOM’s Migration Emergency Funding Mechanism. The outlay will pay for hygiene kits and shelter materials for the most vulnerable islanders.

“With an estimated population of 260,000 people, many of whom living close to poverty levels, the widespread destruction of housing has left many people in need of emergency shelter,” reported Brian Kelly, IOM’s Emergency and Post-Crisis Advisor who is coordinating the agency’s emergency response.

On Monday, IOM press officer Joe Lowry reported from Vanuatu’s capital, Port Vila that residents are clearing away debris in the wake of the destructive cyclone which passed close to this city of 45,000 on Friday.

Residents of Vanuatu didn’t have it quite as easy. Jean-Claude Garae, 49, an artist in Port Vila rode out the storm in his wooden house on a steep hillside on the edge of the capital.

“My wife and children went to her office as it seemed safer but I wanted to stay in my house,” he said. “But at about 10pm we lost communication and I didn’t want to try joining them because the wind was so strong I feared I would die if I went out,” he explained. “When we met again the next morning it was very joyful, very emotional.” 

According to the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), Cyclone Pam has caused widespread, severe damage and loss of life through the country, particularly in the Central and Southern regions, which experienced a direct hit. The number of injuries remains unknown three days after the storm made landfall. The main hospital in Port Vila is badly damaged. Water borne diseases are a concern.  

A state of Emergency has been declared for Shefa Province. This is likely to be extended Tafea and other Provinces as information comes in. Phone and communication networks throughout the country are mostly down – there appears to be greater than 80 per cent damage to power lines and will not be fully restored for several weeks – severely limiting the ability to get reports and information from the many affected islands.

As more parts of the country become accessible the scale of the devastation and its impact on the people of Vanuatu is becoming clearer. IOM is partnering with the government and humanitarian actors to get immediate assistance out to the people currently in over 25 evacuation centers as they deal with the horrible reality that their homes have been destroyed.

IOM plans on providing Camp Coordination and Camp Management (CCCM) support to the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in assessing needs and assisting with the management of evacuation centers.

For further information please contact Joe Lowry in Vanuatu, Tel: +66 818 708 081, Email: jlowry@iom.int. OrDr. Lesi Korovavala, IOM Vanuatu, Tel: +678 595 5049, Email: lkorovavala@iom.int, or Brian Kelly, Tel: + +66 (2) 343 9404, Email: Bkelly@iom.int