Cyclone damage ‘extensive’
WELLINGTON: As Tropical Cyclone Harold battered Fiji yesterday, the first reports emerged of the category five storm’s destruction in Vanuatu, where it passed on Monday.
Communication lines were restored to the hardesthit regions of Vanuatu two days after Harold made landfall.
The islands of Espiritu Santo, Malo and Pentecost were blasted by torrential rain and winds above 235kmh in the storm, which travelled directly over Luganville, the country’s second biggest settlement.
‘‘Thousands of people have lost their homes. There’s extensive, extensive damage,’’ Julian Bluett, a Brisbaneraised Luganville resident, told AAP.
‘‘You can go to any quarter of Luganville and you can see at least half of the homes have been destroyed.
‘‘In one case, there’s a foundation of the house, all the things are there, and none of the house.’’
Bluett, the principal at Rowhani Baha’i School in Luganville, said there was a great rush of messages between friends and family, near and far, to establish the safety of their loved ones.
Amid the devastation, there are no reports of loss of life.
Locals and relief agencies are now starting to pick up the pieces, beginning with a damage assessment and provision of immediate needs.
Save The Children country director Luke Ebbs, based in Port Vila, said the ‘‘scale of damage is immense’’.
‘‘Water tanks knocked over, boats blown out of the water, trees stripped of their leaves and lots of roofs blown off,’’ he said.
‘‘Right now there are very pressing needs for temporary shelter, food, water and basic hygiene items like soap, buckets and water containers.
‘‘Many families we spoke to have lost almost everything, and they urgently need humanitarian assistance.’’
New Zealand has sent a surveillance plane to Vanuatu to help with this task and pledged an initial $NZ500,000 towards relief.
Foreign Minister Winston Peters said Harold had ‘‘caused major damage to homes, public buildings, infrastructure, telecommunications networks and crops’’.
After pummelling Vanuatu, Harold weakened to category four yesterday as it trailed just south of Viti Levu, Fiji’s biggest island.
All of Fiji’s major settlements, including the capital Suva, but particularly west coast settlements of Lautoka and Nadi, were lashed, as the worst weather hit Kadavu Island.
The Fiji Meteorological Service told Radio NZ the Yasawa Islands had encountered ‘‘huge tidal waves’’.
The storm formed near the Solomon Islands, where 27 people were reportedly thrown overboard and killed when a packed ferry headed off into dicey waters.
Beyond Fiji, Harold’s trajectory has it on course to reach Tonga today.
In Luganville, Bluett is spending his time clearing his school of debris and attempting to secure water supplies.
The Australian said he would not forget the terrifying night in a hurry.
‘‘On Sunday it became pretty clear that we were going to have a direct hit and when it arrived it was four hours of very, very intense storm,’’ he said.
‘‘Our windows weren’t well sealed so we got wet. It was wild and woolly.’’ — AAP