Cyclone Donna

A number of vessels were sent to the Torres Islands over the weekend and more ships will depart today, including a French Navy vessel.

National Disaster Management Office director Shadrack Welegtabit said they were utilizing stakeholders and humanitarian groups already in Vanuatu to assist.

He said a detailed damage assessment report is due shortly.

Vanuatu Red Cross Organisational Development Coordinator, Dickinson Tevi says contamination of water is an issue and this will lead to concerns about sanitation.

Tevi also expressed concerns about a limited stock of drugs available if there is an outbreak of diseases in Torres at this point in time.

He confirmed to Loop Vanuatu of reports received by Red Cross from Merelava Island of a woman sustaining some serious injuries to her eye after a door slammed on her face.

The storm has brought days of heavy rain and destructive winds to several of Vanuatu's provinces but the Director of the National Disaster Management Office in Port Vila, Shadrack Welegtabit, says it’s not still safe to reach out to those communities in the north of the country.

“We heard about houses being destroyed but we are still trying to get a figure, how many houses are damaged, garden crops and other stuff like that,” Welegtabit told Pacific Beat.

“We are trying to establish communication to know the extent of the damage.”

There are reports of damage to houses and crops in the provinces of Torba, Malampa and Penama.

Ann Sharon Pakoa of Vanuatu Young Women for Change says several people have been evacuated in Port Vila because of rising waters levels in the river.

 “People are evacuated using a rope to the come across and stay at Wan Smolbag Theater as an evacuation Centre,” said Pakoa.

The places affected are Black Sand, Anamburu, Seven Star and Holden.

On Saturday night, the cyclone, which had been tracking west towards open ocean, turned around and continued to linger about 200 kilometres off the northernmost Torba province, where reports of damage were starting to emerge.

In a warning on Saturday night, the Vanuatu Meteorological Service said the cyclone had strengthened over the afternoon, and was now packing sustained winds of 165km/h, gusting as high as 235km/h.

Reports of destruction are emerging from Vanuatu's northern Torba province as Cyclone Donna moves across the country.

The category three system is packing winds as high as 205 kilometres an hour.

At 5:00am local time today, Cyclone Donna was 245 kilometres west northwest of Torres and 365 kilometres west northwest of Vanua Lava.

The system is moving in a north northwest direction at 14 km/h.

In Torba, people on Banks and Torres islands were sheltering in caves and evacuation centres.

Organisational Development Coordinator Dickinson Tevi says the Red Cross has been attending briefings with the National Disaster Management Office.

Tevi says they have also notified all their branches in the Northern provinces.

During a staff briefing this morning, the Operation Task Force was presented with the strategy and plan to guide Red Cross in this preparatory stage. 

The Red Cross has prepositioned stock in each branch to support any emergency.

The cyclone which is a category 3 storm has been gradually increasing in intensity and could reach Category 4 status in the next 12-24 hours as it tracks south through the country. The Government has warned communities in the provinces of Torba and Penama to evacuate to safety as the cyclone is anticipated to bring winds of up to 185 Kmh.

The latest cyclone warning issued by the Vanuatu Meteorological Service at 5:00am this morning says Donna is generating sustained wind speeds of 130 kilometres an hour at its centre with gusts reaching up to 190 kilometres an hour.

The system was moving in a westerly direction at about 16km/hr and threatening to make landfall in the Torres Island group.

Central and southern Vanuatu are also expected to be affected and the Director of the National Disaster Management Office, Shadrack Welegtabit, says authorities are not taking any chances.

Welegtabit said the National Operations Centre has been activated at the national and provincial levels.