Cyclone Pam: Video from Vanuatu shows vast devastation
Cyclone Pam ravaged the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu over the weekend, killing at least 24 people, injuring dozens more and nearly wiping the country's capital off the map.
According to Vanuatu President Baldwin Lonsdale, 90 percent of the buildings in the capital of Port Vila were damaged or destroyed in the Category 5 typhoon, which carried winds of up to 185 mph when it struck.
"This is a very devastating cyclone in Vanuatu," Lonsdale told the Associated Press. "I term it as a monster, a monster."
And judging from footage taken by (and of) survivors of the storm, it's hard to argue with that characterization.
The damage was widespread. In the village of Mele, a flash flood drove "frightened villagers to the only protected space, a concrete storefront, where they stood holding each other until dawn," a YouTube user wrote. "Mud was deposited everywhere."
In an interview with UNICEF, a woman describes how the storm forced her family to take shelter in the kitchen as the cyclone decimated the rest of their home.
In another video, a smiling man stands on crutches in what remains of his home and describes how Pam tore its roof off.
Aerial photos released by the humanitarian organization CARE Australia showed Cyclone Pam's devastation from above.
The Australian air force has begun disaster relief efforts — Operation Pacific Assist — transporting supplies and humanitarian aid to the Pacific island nation, located more than 1,000 miles east of Australia.
