Church Continues to Aid Those Affected by Cyclone Pam
Latter-day Saint volunteers sort through aid to be delivered to people in need after Cyclone Pam.
PORT VILA, VANUATU
In response to a category 5 cyclone that hit the remote Vanuatu island group March 13, the Church sent 600 emergency food boxes from New Zealand to Port Vila, with another 1,400 boxes on their way in coming weeks.
The 600 boxes were sent March 25 from Port Vila to Tanna, along with 100 tents, water, rice, and flour.
In addition to food boxes, the Church is also in the process of shipping 1,000 water containers with purification filters, 3,000 liters of water, 200 cartons of milk powder, and 570 tents to Port Vila.
The cyclone, which brought high winds, heavy rain, high seas, and large swells, destroyed more than 80 percent of the buildings on the hardest-hit islands of Efate and Tanna. The storm left at least 11 dead and affected half of the country’s population of 270,000, including 60,000 children. No LDS members or missionaries were hurt during the cyclone.
Vanuatu Latter-day Saint leaders have purchased, in Port Vila, food, water, tents, tarpaulins, tools, and building supplies and are distributing these to Latter-day Saints and others in need who have been sheltered in Church buildings since the cyclone. The Church continues to provide food and other aid to Latter-day Saints and others on a daily basis.
