Vanuatu Among Oceania NOCs Touched by Pacific Storms

(ATR) Oceania National Olympic Committees president Robin Mitchell tells Around the Rings that the Guam, Solomon Islands, Tuvalu and Vanuatu NOCs have been affected by the recent cyclones in the region.

In an email to ONOC sent Mar. 16 provided to ATR, Mitchell said the Vanuatu Association of Sports and National Olympic committee staff and their families "are all well, according to initial information they've received, and are all busy with assessing their current situation and cleaning up."

"The VASANOC office had some damage from the cyclone, but no severe structural damage, from the category 5 storm," Mitchell said.

"The staff are currently cleaning up the office and will keep us posted as to what their immediate requirements are."

It is unclear when communications to Vanuatu will resume, as emails and phone calls to the VASANOC office from Around the Rings went undelivered. Mitchell confirmed to ATR that commercial flights to Vanuatu resumed on Monday.

Mitchell said that VASANOC president Antoine Boudier was in New Caledonia to attending meetings surrounding the proposed Melanesian Games and is making his way back to Port Vila, Vanuatu to assess the damage.

Cyclone Pam decimated Vanuatu on Mar. 13-15 while also hitting the Solomon Islands and Tuvalu with heavy rains.

Media reports have dubbed Pam "the worst natural disaster" to hit Vanuatu, with president Baldwin Lonsdale telling AFP on Mar. 15 "more than 90 percent of buildings have been destroyed" in the country.

"The humanitarian need is immediate. We need it right now," Lonsdale said to AFP.

"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. [It is] completely destroyed."

Aid has started to make its way to Vanuatu in storm relief, but many fear that the destruction of crops could lead to food shortages in the archipelago.

"The first week we are relying on the fact that the food crops and the gardens are still edible and they can be used for the first week, but after the first week we'll need to get some rations on the ground," Benjamin Shing, an adviser to president Lonsdale, told the Australia Broadcasting Corporation.

Guam was hit by tropical storm Bavi on Mar. 16, and the NOC confirmed to Mitchell that heavy rains were battering the island.

It is unclear at this time if the Guam, Solomon Islands or Tuvalu NOCs sustained any damage.

The IOC and the Association of National Olympic Committees have pledged $500,000 to help repair the headquarters of VASANOC and other NOCs in the Oceania region.

"We want to support the athletes in this region so that they can return to their sporting life as soon as possible, and in such a way give hope to the whole population," Thomas Bach, IOC president, said in a statement.

"We hope that our contribution will give hope to the people of Vanuatu and others in the region on their difficult path to recovery."

Written by Aaron Bauer

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