Vanuatu is still reeling from monster cyclone Lusi that took at least eleven lives and caused millions of dollars in damage to gardens and properties early March. Yet in this rare instance, the cyclonic winds were not the central villain in the plot. Cyclone Lusi was first noticed as a ‘tropical disturbance’ near Vanuatu’s largest island of Espiritu Santo on 7 March and the system moved north-northeast, becoming a tropical depression on 9 March. Late on the same day, it had developed into a category one tropical cyclone called Lusi.
Prior to that announcement, Vanuatu had been blessed with a cyclone free summer /wet season. After going throughout the entire 2012/2013 season narrowly missing a couple but officially being without any sign of that deadly circular pattern on our weather maps, residents were beginning to feel confident that 2013/2014 would follow suit. How wrong we all were.
Ahead of Lusi being born, the Vanuatu Meteorology and Geo-Hazards Department issued tropical cyclone warnings to four of the six provinces - Torba, Sanma, Penama and Malampa. For those of us living in Efate, the island that is home to the nation’s capital of Port Vila, Cyclone Lusi was not a major event. Winds gusts around 80-90kmh and lots of rain marked this cyclone, with little damage evident, although some flooding.
But sadly, other islands did not fare so well. And it was the large volume of rain that accompanied Lusi that has marked her as the most deadly in Vanuatu’s recent history. In fact it was the most deadly in Vanuatu since Cyclone Uma all but destroyed Port Vila in February 1987 with its category four intensity claiming 50 lives throughout Vanuatu and causing US$150 million in damage. Lusi gave the northern islands a real pounding and drenching, claiming its first life in North Pentecost. An Anglican priest, Father Austin Hinge, was killed instantly when hit by a branch of a tree blown down as he was returning to his village of Lavusi on 10 March.
Details of the next two fatalities remain sketchy weeks later as communications on many of these outer islands is primitive at best, but one was an elderly man killed by another falling tree branch and the third was an infant swept away in flood waters. But the biggest drama unfolded in south Espiritu Santo at the small village of Puarante. Initial reports were that a landslide had destroyed all 60 houses in the village and cost several lives.
Then a senior Santo chief explained it was not a landslide that wiped out his village but a flash flood measuring a monstrous 17 metres high. The chief explained the village’s night of terror to Prime Minister Moana Carcasses and the Acting Director General Albert William who visited the village by helicopter days after the cyclone.
He said that some days earlier following persistent heavy rain, an entire hill side had collapsed into the river three kilometres behind the village in the mountains.
He said a huge body of water collected behind the makeshift wall and he had sent his son repeatedly to Puarante village to warn the villagers to move to higher ground, but they refused to budge.
Finally all hell broke loose and a flash flood equivalent to a five storey building roared through as the villagers slept, killing at least eight people, the distraught chief told the Prime Minister.
Two of the bodies have not been found, another two male villagers suffered serious injuries and all witnesses to the scene said it was amazing that there were survivors as there is no sign that a village ever existed where it stood.
There are always ‘amazing escape’ stories in any disaster and in this case, it belongs to Marae village on the island of Emae. Here, a three metre deep torrent bisected the village, literally cutting it down the middle, but there were no fatalities although more than 50 homes were destroyed.
Weather experts told Islands Business that the slow movement of Lusi coupled with the sheer volume of rain led to the sobering list of fatalities.
“You look at Port Vila and the infrastructure is terrible and in many areas of the capital there is no drainage at all,’’ said an expert, who declined to be named as he is working on a major government project.
“Flooded, damaged, pot holed roads in Port Vila would vanish immediately if there was proper drainage,’’ he said. “So imagine what hope do you have in a village where there is no thought of drainage at all.’’ Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Director Shadrack Welegtabit said that a search and rescue team was sent to Santo as soon as possible to search for those still missing.
He said disaster officials conducted aerial surveillance in remote parts of the country to assess the damage and establish where aid was needed as a priority.
Apart from the loss of lives, 120 people were left homeless and about 12,000 households were affected. Welegtabit said there were widespread crop losses throughout the country and aid would be needed to feed many people until new crops were available. UNESCO, the Australian High Commission, World Vision, provincial councils, the police and local communities and businesses provided aid and assistance to the victims and it is still ongoing in some areas.
The general consensus was the National Disaster Management team and their plan worked well in the aftermath of Lusi. The one clear negative involved the government run Vanuatu Broadcasting and Television Corporation (VBTC) which faces regular criticism for the poor quality of their radio transmissions in certain parts of the country - which they counter by claiming lack of funding.
In the days leading up to the formation of Cyclone Lusi, the island of Futuna, which is the easternmost island in the country, had no radio transmission from the government radio.
Fortunately, word about Lusi was received via an antiquated radio telephone which is often not working as well and members of the local disaster management committee were able to go to each village and warn people to prepare for Lusi. Futuna was not badly affected in the cyclone, but questions have been asked about the leadership and standards in the VBTC.
Tuesday 15 April 2014
http://www.islandsbusiness.com/2014/4/pacific-update/deadly-lusi-claims-11-lives-in-vanuatu/
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