Cyclone Pam: Vanuatu islanders facestarvation 'within days' followingdestruction of all their crops, warnsUnicefThe death toll now stands at 24, with dozens injured, but is expected to rise and there are'serious concerns about food security'

Jonathan Owen

Monday, 16 March 2015

The entire population of one of Vanuatu’s biggest islands faces starvation within days, withall crops destroyed by Cyclone Pam, Unicef officials warned tonight.

Concern is growing for the fate of the islanders, who have just a few days of fruit and rootvegetables left. Speaking to The Independent yesterday, Alice Clements, a spokesperson forUnicef Pacific, based in the capital, Port Vila, said: “We have discovered that 100 per cent ofcrops in Tanna have been destroyed – this means that this is an island with no food.”

Senior government officials struggled to maintain their composure at a briefing in Port Vilatoday.

Up to 80 per cent of the population of Tanna has been displaced and an official describedthe “devastation” he saw there, with trees stripped bare and looking like “skeletons”.

Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu island

Ms Clements, one of those attending the briefing, was struck by the “very emotional” stateof the senior officials. “We have about a week to get food to these people because afterthat, they have no food,” she said. There is also the problem of contaminated watersupplies and no power or shelter in many areas.

The death toll now stands at 24, with dozens injured, but is expected to rise and there are“serious concerns about food security”, according to Ms Clements.

Baldwin Lonsdale, Vanuatu’s President, appealed for help as the full extent of the disasteremerged today. Mr Lonsdale had been attending a disaster conference in Japan, when thecyclone struck last weekend, with winds of up to 200 miles an hour.

Speaking before he left to return to Vanuatu, he spoke of the “monster” cyclone which had“completely destroyed” parts of his country.

In the capital, Port Vila, almost every building has been destroyed or damaged. “Thehumanitarian need is immediate,” he said.

READ MORE: 'Monster' storm was caused by climate changeDevastation revealed in pictures

A C-17 transport plane with emergency supplies took off from RAF Brize Norton,Oxfordshire, yesterday – part of a growing effort involving countries from around the world,as well as relief agencies and the World Health Organisation.

Vanuatu has a population of around 268,000 spread over 65 islands. It is like dealing with“65 simultaneous emergencies potentially”, said Ms Clements. She added that problemstravelling to many of the islands meant “it’s incredibly difficult to get the real answer onwhat the situation is here”.

The force of the cyclone “was much stronger” than Hurricane Katrina, which left a trail ofdestruction when it hit the US in 2005.