Storm Brings 165-mph Winds To Pacific Island Of Vanuatu
PORT VILLA , Vanuatu, March 13 (UPI) — The nation of Vanuatu, a chain of islands off Australia’s northeastern coast, was hit Friday by a potentially devastating Category 5 storm.
Communication with the country’s 83 islands and population of about 270,000 was lost, and power is likely to have been interrupted. Satellite imagery shows a storm with sustained winds of up to 165 mph and gusts of 200 mph, named Tropical Cyclone Pam, making landfall on the island that includes the capital, Port Villa.
The Port Villa airport weather station reported rapidly falling barometric pressure before going offline at 8 p.m. A Facebook message sent before the power loss, The Washington Post reported Friday, read, “The power is off. Water cut off for some houses. Wind is terrifying.”
The Humans of Vanuatu Facebook page chronicles the storm’s passing.
Because of the mild climate, much of the country’s housing stock is made of light materials that include straw and corrugated metals. The strongest thing they’ve got is cement churches,” Inga Mepham of CARE International for the Vanuatu told CNN. “Some of them don’t have that. It’s hard to find a structure that you’d think would be able to withstand a Category 5. The cyclone’s coming through, but then we’ve probably got 48 hours of humongous tropical storms as well, which is going to dump a lot of rain on an area that’s been hit by a cyclone that may have a lot of damage. There’s a lot of risk right now, and there’s a lot of risk in the next four to five days as well.”
