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DEVASTATED Vanuatu declared a state of emergency yesterday as relief agencies scrambled to help to the remote Pacific nation following the passage of super cyclone Pam.
Early reports said entire villages had been “blown away” and the death toll in the capital Port Vila stood at six yesterday, although aid workers said this was likely just a fraction of the fatalities nationwide.
Officials said they were still trying to assess the scale of the disaster unleashed Pam hit on Friday night, with winds reaching 200 miles an hour.
The United Nations had unconfirmed reports that 44 died in one province alone and Oxfam said the destruction in Port Vila was massive, with 90 per cent of homes damaged.
“This is likely to be one of the worst Pacific disasters ever seen,” said Oxfam Vanuatu director Colin Collet van Rooyen.
Ni-Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale described the storm as “a monster that has devastated our country.
“Most of the buildings have been destroyed, many houses, school and health facilities have been destroyed.”
Aid workers described levelled homes, uprooted trees and blocked roads following “15-30 minutes of absolute terror.”
According to Unicef spokeswoman Alice Clements, most of dwellings on Port Vila’s outskirts stood no chance.
“People have no water, they have no power, this is a really desperate situation,” she said.
“People tried to tie down their roofs … but it’s total destruction, they’ve been absolutely flattened.”
Oxfam executive director Helen Szoke said it was a “worse than worst-case scenario,” while World Vision spokeswoman Chloe Morrison said the situation appeared grim for outlying islands.
“We’re seeing whole villages and houses blown away.”
Save the Children spokeswoman Nichola Krey raised fears of food shortages and said conditions in evacuation centres were challenging.
Ms Clements said the hospital had also been flooded and most of its medical supplies were compromised.
However, despite the problems, relief began to trickle in on Sunday.
Governments around the globe pledged relief funding including £2.6 million from Australia, £2m from Britain, £1.2m from New Zealand and £710,000 from the EU.
