Ambae Island

Chief Garae made the statement today and confirmed that traditional houses have fallen due to heavy ash, water sources are contaminated and the air is no longer safe to breathe.

He said food gardens were covered with ash from the Lopenpen volcano.

The chief also confirmed that all coconut trees had been destroyed.

Chief Garae said he was speaking out because everything on the island had changed and ash continues to fall.

He said concerns had been raised with the Provincial government, the national government and other NGO's as the island is no longer safe.

The Daily Post said the flood struck as the area has been trying to recover from last month's cyclone Hola while trying to cope with ash fall from Manaro volcano.

There is no information about any casualties.

The government has already sent emergency food supplies to the island and approved $US400,000 to be spent on short term food and supplies in the disaster zones of west and south Ambae.

Manaro Voui volcano started erupting last September, prompting Vanuatu authorities to order all 1100 residents of Ambae island to evacuate immediately.

People were allowed to return in October when volcanic activity subsided.

A GNS Science volcanologist, Brad Scott, said however, the volcano had become more active in the last ten days.

"There have been gardens covered by ash, limbs on trees broken. Some of the roofs over buildings and water supplies have since collapsed due to the weight of the volcanic ash."

The geohazards department had raised the island's alert level last week, with the volcano again belching ash and acid rain across parts of Ambae.

The islands 13,000 residents only returned at the end of last year, after the entire population was moved off island when the eruption first intensified.

The director general of Climate Change and Natural Disaster, Jesse Benjamin, said the relocation of some 1,000 households in the western and southern parts of Ambae was being considered.

The Vanuatu Geohazards Department raised the alert level for the volcano last week after increased activity at Lombenben's Manaro Voui crater.

Communities in the northwestern and southern parts of Ambae have been worst affected with reports of buildings and trees collapsing under the weight of the ash.

Water supplies have also been contaminated and food gardens smothered.

The operations manager of the National Disaster Management Office, Peter Korisa, said assessments were still be done and affected communities might be relocated.

The call came after the government had sent an official assessment team to Ambae to report on the damage that had been caused by the constant ashfall from Manaro Volcano.

The south and west of Ambae have been particularly affected by the volcanic ashfall.

MPs Alickson Vira and Jay Ngwele said it has threatened the survival of 3,000 people in the south and 6,000 people in the west of the island, as well as their animals.

The eruptions have intensified over the past week with officials raising the alert level on Sunday.

Local NDMO reports said the renewed volcanic activity was leaving a heavier ash fall than the eruption last year.

It said three communities had been relocated and the central government has been asked for help.

The office's operations manager Peter Korisa said the main request has been for food and water, with ashfall affecting the local supply.

The entire island was evacuated late last year when the volcano at the island's centre erupted, blanketing the island in ash, suffocating crops and contaminating water.

The population returned when the eruption settled down after a month, but last night, the volcano's alert level was raised from level 2 to 3 - what's called a "state of minor eruption".

An officer for the National Disaster Management Office on Ambae, Manson Taridenga, said the islanders were already struggling after returning, then cyclone Hola struck earlier this month, and now this.

This was after receiving the go-ahead by the Vanuatu government-led emergency committee, for a period of five weeks.

Speaking during the training session ahead of the launch of the programme, Vanuatu Football Federation President Lambert Maltock highlighted the power of football in a community.

He said football is about taking messages beyond the pitch to children and families.

Jay Ngwele resigned from his role on Wednesday as Climate Change Special Envoy in protest over the way disaster relief funding was spent on travel costs for politicians to meet with victims.

Mr Ngwele said his people were sent back to Ambae too quickly and without adequate support or services.

He said despite reassurances from authorities that the water was safe to drink once boiled, independent tests from 12 different sites on the west of Ambae have shown the water is contaminated.