土曜の夜から日曜の朝まで、南北に島が連なるバヌアツを襲ったサイクロン、パムの被害状況と復旧作業の様子が徐々にインターネットで紹介される。
今朝、知り合いのバヌアツ在住フォトジャーナリストから、国家災害運営事務局（ National Disaster Management Office）が出す報道を含む報告が上がったので下記にコピーする。
要点をまとめる
１．救援物資は効率的に配布されている。（ハイチの地震では不要な物が沢山送りつけられたそうだ。知らなかった．）
２．南部の離島、タナが80％崩壊。首都のあるエファテ島とタナの中間にあるErromago島も同様。
（なお、タナの被害状況はCNNがビデオで紹介している。CNN: Hospital struggles to care for cyclone victims http://edition.cnn.com/videos/world/2015/03/17/pkg-watson-vanuatu-hospital.cnn）
3. タナより南の島は大丈夫そう。
４．北部Ambrymの南東部が被害を受けている。
５．Ambrym近くにあるPaama島も被害が大きい。
６．Ambrymの南方の島々 Shepherds群島ーEpi, Tongoa, Tongariki, Makira, Emaeは被害が大きく、被害に会っていない建造物は一つもない。
以上は、豪NZ仏軍のいずれかによる空からの視察情報のようだ。首都のあるエファテ島は携帯電話もつながり徐々に回復している様子だが、やはり離島に支援の手が伸びていない。
Facebook - Humans of Vanuatuの2015年3月18日掲載情報
Sunrise, and another (very) long day ahead in Vanuatu.
I'm really thrilled to be able to say that Vanuatu is getting onto the front foot, after only a few days. I attended the second daily press briefing at the National Disaster Management Office yesterday. It was a tour de force. The government of Vanuatu is clearly in control, mobilising all available resources in the best way possible, and making sure that we do NOT end up being another Haiti, in which agencies, NGOs and pretty much anyone operated in a wild west atmosphere.
After the earthquake in Haiti, planes would simply appear over the runway, land and start dumping goods out the back without any consideration of what was already there, or even in some cases of what was needed. The duplication, waste and chaos was extreme. Vanuatu's National Disaster Committee has proven to be anything but. They're a small group of key public servants who have coalesced within mere days into a highly effective, efficient and organised unit.
As I was leaving the NDMO yesterday, I ran into a friend, a young economist. I asked him what he was doing there, expecting to hear that he was packing boxes or some such. 'Well,' he said, 'there's a team of us calculating the carrying capacity of the ports and airfields, trying to work out how much we need, how much we have and how much we can handle.'
Two days after the cyclone left our waters, we're already swinging into full gear.
Now the sobering news. There is wholesale destruction on Tanna. Over 80% of the homes are un-liveable. The same is true on nearby Erromango. The other, smaller islands in the south of Vanuatu seem to be OK, based on an aerial survey.
To the north of us, in Ambrym there is widespread damage in the southeast of the island. Nearby Paama is badly hit. In the Shepherds group, we fear the worst. Epi, Tongoa, Tongariki, Makira, Emae and several others were severely mauled. In some villages, the aerial survey didn't see a single intact edifice.
We were blessed to have an initial report of five fatalities on Tanna and none at all on Erromango. We can only hope those numbers were won't grow as the assessment teams work their way through the island. But because of the size and lack of usable airstrips in the Shepherds, nobody has been able to get boots on the ground yet. I hope to have more to say about this very soon.
I went home for a brief, hurried supper last night just around sundown. As I approached the door, the lights flickered and came on. I almost fell to my knees. The work that Public Works, UNELCO and French colleagues from nearby New Caledonia have done in the capital is nothing short of astounding. France is sending an entire shipload of goods from New Caledonia as we speak, so the pace of recovering our core infrastructure will only increase. Amazing.
The lights went off again after about three minutes, and haven't come back on since, but they are on for two filling stations in town, several key stores and bakeries, and increasingly for businesses. I am, for the first time, filled with hope.
There is an IMMENSE task ahead of us. But so far, we seem to be doing it right. We were flat on the mat, but we're getting back on our feet now, and soon (today, tomorrow) we'll be hitting back.
Finally, thank you all so much for the amazingly kind and caring messages you've been sending. Even if I haven't been able to help you individually with your concerns about certain residents here, I can assure you all I've been conveying your message of support to everyone I meet.
Okay, back into the fire....
