Disaster Relief

The offshore patrol ship's crew helped the inhabitants of the Island restore regular water supplies and brought with them three 10-tonne water tanks, among other aid and equipment.

Tanna was one of 80 islands hit by storms named Judy and Kevin within days of each other at the end of February and the beginning of March, with 120mph strong winds battering the land.

Following the storms, the international community provided initial aid to restore basic services and assist islanders.

Yonhap News Agency reports Tropical cyclones Judy and Kevin swept across the Pacific country from 1- 03 March, affecting over 80 percent of its population and causing nationwide power outages, according to the ministry.

“The government hopes this assistance will help Vanuatuans affected by the cyclones swiftly return to their daily lives and recover from the damage,” the ministry said

Photo  Vanuatu Red Cross Society/Facebook  Caption: Damage in Port Vila, 4 March 2023     

Teams sent to carry out assessments in the worst affected communities returned to the capital over the weekend and a detailed operation plan is now being finalised for government approval.

The operations manager of the National Disaster Management Office, Peter Korisa, said he wanted to see supplies reaching people by the end of the week.

"In this type of country like Vanuatu, people are already vulnerable so whenever there is such impact or such a shock to the community definitely it will push them down," he said.

A massive aid operation swung into action in September when the entire island of Ambae was evacuated due to a volcanic eruption.

The Daily Post reported that a number of senior staff at the NDMO had been accused of stealing some of the items intended for that operation, as well as supplies donated for Cyclone Pam in 2015.

Police raids recovered items from several properties in Port Vila which belong to office staff.

Police were understood to be investigating the potential for similar theft of items from the National Disaster Office in outer provinces.

The storm impacted many of the northern islands last week.

Marielo Laloyer, who is from Torba Province but now lives in Port Vila, said she hoped businesses in the capital would help with supply relief materials that can be sent north within the week.

"The greatest needs on Torres at the moment is nails, saw, hammer, rice, sugar and matches because I think the Red Cross and the NDMO is moving down to Torres with tarpaulin and water. So we are just planning a small fundraising to help."

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.”