Cyclone Pam: Vanuatu and Cyclone Lam and Marcia hit Queensland!

The UK is giving up to £2m in aid to help the Pacific islands of Vanuatu hit by Category five Cyclone Pam is feared to have flattened entire communities. 

“Our support will ensure relief agencies can provide temporary shelters; protect vulnerable people, especially women and children; and provide emergency supplies as the country responds to this emergency.”

A ‘once-in-a-lifetime’ storm hit the tiny South Pacific island of Vanuatu,  damaging homes and uprooting trees and the put the population of 260,000 at risk.

A Category five storm, Cyclone Pam hit the island’s capital, Port Vila, at around 11pm Friday (12 noon GMT), with wind gusts of over 174m/h with torrential rain, landslides and flash flooding. Earlier, Cyclone Pam has already hit Tuvalu, Kiribati and the Solomon Islands, causing significant damage.

Parts of northern Australia were battered by powerful twin cyclones, Lam which hit sparsely populated northern territory, and Marcia crossed over small towns along the east coast of Queensland state, within hours of each other overnight, tearing off roofs, damaging homes and uprooting trees.

Marcia, a category 5 cyclone which has since been downgraded, whipped up wind gusts of up to 180mph. More than 48,000 homes in Queensland were left without power.