The year 2015 has already been marked by one of the worst natural disasters in the last few years. The majorly catastrophic Cyclone Pam has hit the outer islands of the South Pacific island nation Vanuatu hard, bearing the brunt of the winds of more than 300 kph (185 mph), flattening buildings, smashing boats and washing away bridges.
The UN Disaster Assessment and Coordination team in the capital of Port Vila, according to latest reports, have confirmed that 37 evacuation centres had been set up, although communication with outer islands was still out of question. UN says the tragedy has claimed 24 deaths, with another 3,300 marked as displaced.
As reports have suggested, the southern island of Tanna, about 200 km (125 miles) south of the capital, Port Vila, with its 29,000 inhabitants experienced the full force of the category 5 storm. Initial aid group reports said it had been devastated, along with the main town on the southern island of Erromango.
President Lonsdale, who was present at a disaster preparedness conference in Japan when the storm hit, has already appealed for international aid, telling AFP news agency: "The humanitarian need is immediate, we need it right now."
"After all the development we have done for the last couple of years and this big cyclone came and just destroyed all the infrastructure the government has built. Completely destroyed," he added. Earlier Lonsdale had described the storm as "a monster" and was still unsure about his own family's safety.
There's some new footage of the heavily damaged islands that's been shot with the help of a drone. The footage belongs to NBC but you could see the kind of destruction Cyclone Pam has accounted for in the last few days. The video shows houses with missing rooftops, with what existing now is just a shell of the former place.
Check out the Cyclone Pam drone footage below.
