{"id":99334,"date":"2015-03-14T06:50:24","date_gmt":"2015-03-14T06:50:24","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/4cd.e16.myftpupload.com\/?p=99334"},"modified":"2015-03-14T06:50:24","modified_gmt":"2015-03-14T06:50:24","slug":"cyclone-devastates-south-pacific-islands","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/citifmonline.com\/2015\/03\/cyclone-devastates-south-pacific-islands\/","title":{"rendered":"Cyclone ‘devastates’ South Pacific islands"},"content":{"rendered":"
Cyclone Pam has slammed into the south Pacific archipelago of Vanuatu leaving “complete devastation” in its wake, aid agencies say.<\/p>\n
Tom Skirrow, of Save the Children, said houses in the capital Port Vila were destroyed and “people are wandering the streets looking for help”.<\/p>\n
The UN agencies say dozens may have been killed and the disaster could be one of the worst in Pacific history.<\/p>\n
Pam has brought winds of up to 270km\/h (170mph) and torrential rain.<\/p>\n
‘Entire villages destroyed’<\/strong><\/p>\n Chloe Morrison, an emergency communications officer with World Vision who is in Port Vila, said on Saturday that streets were littered with roofing, uprooted trees and toppled power lines.<\/p>\n She said there were reports of entire villages in remote areas being destroyed.<\/p>\n “It’s still really quite dangerous outside. Most people are still hunkering down,” she said.<\/p>\n “The damage is quite extensive in Port Vila but there are so many more vulnerable islands. I can’t even imagine what it’s like in those vulnerable communities.”<\/p>\n Mr Skirrow said: “The scene here this morning is complete devastation – houses are destroyed, trees are down, roads are blocked and people are wandering the streets looking for help.<\/p>\n “Communications are down across much of the country with the total extent of the devastation unlikely to be known for several days.”<\/p>\n Unicef spokeswoman Alice Clements described the cyclone as “15-30 minutes of absolute terror” as it passed over Port Vila.<\/p>\n “I saw the sliding doors from my three-storey-hotel room completely blow away – it was terrifying,” she said.<\/p>\n