Twenty-four people are confirmed to have been killed in Vanuatu by Cyclone Pam, the United Nations says.
Authorities have struggled to contact the islands that bore the brunt of Cyclone Pam, which flattened buildings, smashed boats and washed away roads and bridges."There are 24 confirmed fatalities, 11 from Tafea, eight from Efate and five from Tanna," the UN's Office for the Co-ordination of Humanitarian Affairs said in a situation report. The cyclone was carrying winds of up to 300 kilometres an hour when it tore through the Pacific nation last week. Radio New Zealand International reporter Koroi Hawkins, who arrived in Port Vila late last night on a New Zealand Defence Force Hercules, said the capital was unrecognisable. "Everything seems to be touched by destruction," he told Morning Report. "I saw a huge warehouse made of brick, the wall has been split in two down the middle by the sheer force of the wind." "It's not like it's torn through just part of the town - everything is looking dead twisted or broken," he said. "It's like a weird Pacific winter ... if anyone's been to Port Vila, this lovely French-looking idyllic little town, it's like a war zone." Mr Hawkins said Red Cross relief supplies do not appear to have been distributed yet, as supplies were being stored and assessed before being distributed to the people to ensure it was handed out equally. "None of the relief supplies, from the Red Cross at least, are going out yet. They are waiting for assessments, waiting to know what the whole situation is before they break out." Mr Hawkins said there has been some reports of looting in Port Vila. "So there is some oppportunists going around... because you see it's totally dark in a lot of parts of the city. There's only some places that have only yesterday afternoon had their power switched on." Source: Radio New Zealand
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