« on: March 15, 2015, 06:34:52 PM »
Tropical Cyclone Pam: Death toll may rise after worst natural disaster in 'living memory'
ABC News Updated 44 minutes ago
Emergency aid and relief supplies have begun to arrive in Vanuatu after Tropical Cyclone Pam tore through the Pacific nation, killing at least eight people in what has been described as the worst natural disaster in "living memory".
Charity groups said they were doing all they could to get food and supplies into the island nation, and commercial flights were scheduled to resume today.
Save the Children director Tim Nelson said up to 150,000 people had been affected by the cyclone, with 42,000 homes damaged.
"It was incomprehensible what was bearing down," he said.
"No one here in living memory has seen anything like this."
Mr Nelson estimated at least 15,000 homes were now uninhabitable, and said he expected the death toll to rise significantly.
"I imagine the number of casualties and fatalities unfortunately are likely to rise," he said.
"We know of thousands in evacuation centres.
"The water is contaminated and we are not sure people have got the message they can't drink the water."
Mr Nelson said the last major cyclone hit Vanuatu in 1987 and it was nothing like Pam.
"A hospital has lost its roofing, there is a shortage of beds and most worrying, the medical repository where they house their drugs has lost [its] roof."
"These people are resilient, they do most things themselves."
He said full recovery from the event would take years, with thousands of homes to be rebuilt.
"To get people's lives on track, we hope within a couple of months we can have schools working again, we can have hospitals open.
"That is the main focus, restoring normality to the lives of people and children."
The Red Cross in Vanuatu said nearly all the houses in Port Vila had been destroyed, and many locals were staying in the evacuation centre.
"We have people everywhere, they're going in to the evacuation centre," CEO Jacqueline de Gaillarde said.
"We count about 2,000 people but they stay only during the night because in the morning they rush to their place to make sure their belongings are safe.
"Right now, there is no more rice in town and all those who have gardens have nothing left. And in days to come we are going to face a major issue about food."
Richard Tatwin of the Presbyterian Church of Vanuatu said the poorest people were worst affected.
"Shelter is the biggest need at the moment, plus, depending on the situation of each family if it's a low income earner, food too as well," he said.
"And clothing, if all the clothes have been blown away by the wind, by the cyclone."
Prime Minister Tony Abbott indicated RAAF flights would deliver extra personnel and supplies today, with two additional military planes set to fly over as part of the international effort.
Foreign Minister Julie Bishop said Australians wanting to come home from Vanuatu would be offered seats on military aircraft returning from the disaster zone.
"We are giving priority to the elderly, the sick, pregnant women, children and the like," Ms Bishop told the ABC's AM program.
Consular officials were still working to contact up to 3,000 Australians believed to be in Vanuatu.
"Our high commission is working around the clock, we've sent a consular team into assist ... and we haven't had any reports of Australians in distress or needing support," Ms Bishop said.
Widespread flooding as sea surges reached eight metres
Aid officials earlier said the storm was comparable in strength to Typhoon Haiyan, which hit the Philippines in 2013 and killed more than 6,000 people, and looked set to be one of the worst natural disasters the Pacific region had ever experienced.
Witnesses in Port Vila described sea surges of up to eight metres and widespread flooding as the cyclone hit on the weekend.
Dr Len Notaras, who heads the Darwin-based National Critical Care and Trauma Response Centre, said a team of 10 people from Australia had recently arrived in Vanuatu.
He said initial reports from the team were of "total devastation".
"This is not dissimilar to the response to Pakistan back in 2010, where we saw just on 60,000 patients in 70 days," Dr Notaras said.
"This is a third or fourth world country, absolute devastation, with destruction of their hospital and so on."
Photos taken by CARE Australia while flying aid into Port Vila showed the scale of the devastation caused to communities, with many homes destroyed.
Alice Clements, a spokeswoman for the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) in Port Vila, said it was as if a bomb had gone off in the centre of town.
Australia's contribution was part of an initial assistance package announced by Foreign Affair's Minister Julie Bishop, which included $5 million for Australian NGOs and UN agencies on the ground in Vanuatu.
Mr Abbott said he had rung his counterparts in the United Kingdom and Vanuatu to discuss relief efforts.
He said Vanuatu prime minister Joe Natuman thanked Australia and its people for their assistance.
New Zealand had offered $NZ2.5 million in initial aid, while Britain, which jointly ruled Vanuatu with France until independence in 1980, had offered up to two million pounds ($3.86 million) in assistance.
The World Bank said it was exploring a swift insurance payout to the government.
Vanuatu's president 'fears the worst' in outer islands
Vanuatu's president Baldwin Lonsdale had been in Japan when the cyclone hit, attending a UN disaster recovery conference.
Mr Lonsdale said he feared the storm's impact would be "the very, very, very worst" in isolated outer islands.
Appearing visibly upset at a media conference, he said damage was still being assessed but most houses in Port Vila had been either damaged or destroyed.
"People are finding shelter where they can live for the night," he said.
For updates, click http://www.abc.net.au/news/2015-03-16/vanuatu-cyclone-pam-death-toll-to-rise/6321522
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