Homes, roads, schools and bridges were wiped out by Cyclone Lola in parts of Vanuatu last week. It was the earliest Category 5 cyclone ever recorded in the Southern Hemisphere.
Early damage reports show Pentecost Island was the hardest hit by Lola, the third major cyclone to hit the archipelago this year.
Initial assessments by the country's National Disaster Management Office found more than 10,000 households in four northern provinces were impacted. But there were no initial reports of deaths.
Vanuatu's Prime Minister, Charlot Salwai, and his officials flew over the affected islands on an Australian military plane late last week. He promised to help those most in need.
French and New Zealand military flights had also conducted aerial surveillance on behalf of the Vanuatu government following the cyclone.
Nicci Simmonds is New Zealand's High Commissioner to Vanuatu. She told Radio New Zealand that there had been some information coming through from the islands worst hit by the cyclone, but it was still "patchy."
Simmonds anticipated a lot of homes — especially those that had been traditionally built — would have been badly hit.
She said once need was established, aid deliveries would begin to roll out to the communities that had been affected by the cyclone.
Simmonds said Vanuatu was "the most vulnerable country in the world for natural disasters." She added the frequency and intensity of cyclones, in particular, was increasing due to climate change.
