People in Vanuatu's southern Tafea province are being urged to seek shelter as cyclone Ula inches closer to the country.
In its latest warning, the country's meteorological service says Ula is currently about 145 kilometres northeast of the island of Aneityum, with winds of 165 kilometres an hour at its centre.
It is moving southwest at about 14 kilometres an hour.
The service says Tafea -- particularly Aneityum, Futuna, and parts of Tanna -- is likely to experience damaging gale-force winds, torrential rain, and what it describes as very rough to phenomenal seas later on Sunday night.
A forecaster, Ellen Luke, says the cyclone is moving eratically and it's hard to predict how close to the islands the cyclone will pass.
The National Disaster Management Office on Sunday issued a red alert for Tafea province. Ms Luke says this means residents should seek shelter.
"If the cyclone is moving closer to the islands then it will be causing some damages, so the advice is to seek very good shelter in some very good houses to prepare themselves for the cyclone as it's moving close."
The Disaster Management Office and other government bodies were meeting with international aid agencies on Sunday afternoon to determine what response may be needed.
Tafea province was one of the worst affected by the category five Cyclone Pam, which struck in March last year, and has been struggling with drought caused by this year's El Niño system.
But despite this, the Vanuatu country director for the NGO Oxfam, Colin Collett van Rooyen, says the country is prepared to deal with another cyclone.
Mr Collett van Rooyen says there are processes and resources to manage if Ula does cause damage.
"The islands have community disaster preparedness groups. So they have their own processes that they then put in place, particularly issues like securing food, making water supplies are secure, making sure people have access to shelter. Those community processes have been activated."
Last weekend, Ula caused minor damage in northern Tonga and Fiji's Lau group as a category two system, but it has strengthened again in the past 48 hours.
To the southwest, New Caledonia's government has issued a cyclone pre-alert for the entire territory.