Tropical Cyclone Pam Leaves Death and Destruction in Vanuatu
Tropical Cyclone Pam is responsible for the death of at least six people in Vanuatu. The storm is considered one of the most powerful ever to make landfall.
The Pacific island is also dealing with widespread destruction after Pam hit the country's capital, Port Vila. CNN reports the airport is destroyed making it much more difficult for aid and rescue teams to come in.
Pam rolled through the South Pacific area with the strength of a Category 5 hurricane. It went down to a Category 4 once it hit landfall around 11:30 p.m. Friday night. Winds up to 200 mph slammed the nation.
The six victims of the storm are reportedly only coming from the capital, reports of more deaths are expected to come in from other areas in the island.
Sune Gudnitz, regional head for the U.N. aid agency the Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) in Fiji, 600 miles from Vanuatu, said the situation is the "worst case scenario for the country."
"Unfortunately, the more that comes out, the worse it looks," said Gudnitz.
The agency has heard reports of destruction in the islands Efate, where the storm's eye rolled through, and Tanna.
The Australian Red Cross has seen "unbelievable destruction."
The focus now is to bring the much-needed food, water and shelter assistance to the area. As of now, there are reports of widespread power outages. Aid workers are not sure when they will be able to get to the island.
Port Vila is more than 1,100 miles northeast of Brisbane on Australia's east coast, and some 1,375 miles north of Auckland, New Zealand.
Pam is determined the strongest storm to make landfall in the Pacific area since Haiyan hit the Philippines in 2013. Haiyan was responsible for more than 6,000 deaths.
Pam has since moved southeastward beyond the southern islands of Vanuatu. Heavy rainfall and flooding is expected throughout the central and southern islands in the wake of the storm. Pam is not expected to hit any other countries as it weakens across waters. However, another cyclone, Nathan is brewing and expected to hit Vanuatu later this week.
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