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Stories of complete devastation are beginning to come out of Vanuatu in the aftermath of the severe tropical cyclone Pam.Oxfam staff on the ground in Port Vila have reported complete destruction of homes, three story high trees completely uprooted and small communities with barely any houses left standing. Oxfam's Vanuatu Country Director Colin Collett van Rooyen said people in Vanuatu had told him they had never seen a…

Oxfam India is providing humanitarian assistance in the form of non-food items such as fleece blankets as well as dry food rations to the flood affected and shelter-less and coordinating its efforts with the National Disaster Management Authority (NDMA) and through its partners in the affected areas.

Two rapid assessment teams have arrived in the two small southern Vanuatu islands hit hardest by Cyclone Pam to rapidly assess exactly what survivors of the disaster need.

One month after Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu, water remains a high priority, with small islands dependent on rainwater most in need, Oxfam said today.

Aid should today begin to reach the hard hit southern Vanuatu islands of Tanna and Erromango, which both took the full force of the 250kmh Cyclone Pam, after rapid assessments of the islands showed absolute devastation with entire villages destroyed.

Up to 90 per cent of housing in Vanuatu's capital reported to have been seriously damaged by Cyclone Pam, with still no information from the extremely vulnerable outer islands which are home to 33,000 people. 

In rich countries, clean water is so plentiful and easily available that we simply take it for granted. Yet around the world, diseases from unsafe water kill more people each year than any other cause, making this one of the world’s most urgent health issues. Water is central to almost every aspect of Oxfam’s work.

The Philippines office of international humanitarian organization Oxfam has been activating contingency plans and readying stocks of emergency assistance

Vanuatu could face a second emergency with waterborne disease a real risk if the need for clean water, sanitation and hygiene is not met, Oxfam said today. 

Oxfam is warning that the Ebola outbreak in West Africa will not be contained unless more is done to prevent new infections.