RAF aid plane flies to help cyclone devastated Vanuatu

AN RAF plane carrying aid has flown out to Vanuatu following calls for “immediate help” in the wake of a devastating tropical cyclone, which the nation’s president is blaming on climate change.

Houses have been flattened in Port VilaGetty Images

Houses have been flattened in Port Vila

The package, containing 1,640 shelter kits and 1,900 solar lanterns with phone chargers, comes after the UK government announced a £2 million donation towards the United Nations' humanitarian aid efforts.

Category five Cyclone Pam tore through the archipelago of South Pacific islands on Saturday morning with winds of up to 155mph and heavy rainfall causing widespread destruction.

A C-17 transport plane flew out from RAF Brize Norton, Oxfordshire, this morning bound for the Royal Australian Air Force base at Amberley, Australia, before linking up with international agencies.

The RAF crew will carry out support flights over several days.

Baldwin Lonsdale, Vanuatu's president, was making his way back from a UN disaster conference in Japan today and said the latest information he had was that six people had been confirmed dead and 30 injured.

Meanwhile 90 per cent of buildings in the capital, Port Vila, have been destroyed or damaged.

"This is a very devastating cyclone in Vanuatu. I term it as a monster, a monster," he said.

"It's a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu. After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out.”

He added: “The humanitarian need is immediate, we need it right now.”

This pregnant woman has no waterGetty Images

A woman who is past her due date with no access to water, food or power

I term it as a monster, a monster

President Baldwin Lonsdale

Mr Lonsdale earlier said he had not been able to confirm his own family’s safety.

He blamed the disaster on climate change but scientists have said it is impossible to attribute single weather events like Cyclone Pam to the phenomenon.

"Climate change is contributing to the disasters in Vanuatu,” the president said. “We see the level of sea rise. Change in weather patterns. This year we have heavy rain more than every year."

Officials in Vanuatu, which is 11 hours ahead of the UK, had still not made contact with outlying islands by Monday night and were struggling to determine the scale of devastation from the cyclone.

The damaged airport in Port Vila has reopened to allow some aid and relief flights to reach the country, with Mr Lonsdale saying items from tarpaulins and water containers to medical supplies and construction tools are needed.

Dr Steven Godby, an expert in natural hazards at Nottingham Trent University, warned the number of reported fatalities could leap when residents on the country's outer islands are eventually reached.

He said: “Vanuatu highlights the vulnerability of people living in isolated regions to natural hazards and of Small Island Developing States (SIDS) in particular. Cyclone Pam is the largest storm to impact the islands since Cyclone Eric in 1985 and a World Bank report in 2006 highlighted that in years when a disaster struck, economic losses in Vanuatu averaged 30% of GDP.  

“The largest challenge facing aid efforts will be the relative inaccessibility of the islands and the damage caused to the infrastructure by the incredibly high winds. So far, reports of fatalities and damage are incomplete because of the lack of communications with outer islands in the archipelago.  The logistical challenges will be significant, particularly in terms of communications, transportation and needs assessments.” 

Port Vila, Vanuatu's capital, has been devastatedGetty Images

Port Vila, Vanuatu's capital, has been devastated

Many of the city's residents spent today clearing away downed trees and cleaning up what was left of their houses.

Those left homeless were generally staying with loved ones whose houses had withstood the storm, or sleeping in temporary shelters provided by aid agencies, said UNICEF spokeswoman Alice Clements.

Ms Clements said she spoke to a woman who is nine months pregnant and lost her home in the storm. The woman's situation, along with many others, is growing desperate, she said.

"She has no water, no food, no power," she said. "This is an incredibly dangerous time."

Every plane and helicoptor from Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office has been dispatched to fly over the hard-hit outer islands and full reports are expected from flyover crews early tomorrow.

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