Communications down after category 5 Cyclone Harold hits Vanuatu
Source: The Guardian
Communications down after category 5 Cyclone Harold hits Vanuatu
Pacific nation lashed by heavy rain, flash flooding and ‘phenomenal seas’
Kate Lyons
@MsKateLyons
Mon 6 Apr 2020 06.59 BST
Last modified on Mon 6 Apr 2020 07.15 BST
A category five cyclone has made landfall on the Pacific nation of Vanuatu, causing damage across large parts of the country, as it tries to prepare for the coronavirus outbreak.
Cyclone Harold made landfall on the north and west of the country on Monday, after spending Sunday sitting off the country’s west coast, gathering strength.
The Vanuatu meteorology and geo-hazards department warned that hurricane force winds, reaching up to 235km/h were expected across parts of the country on Monday, as well as heavy rainfalls, flash flooding and “very rough to phenomenal seas”.
Images coming through from Vanuatu early on Monday morning showed properties flattened in the country’s second-largest city of Luganville.
“Communications to Santo and Malekula (Vanuatu’s two largest islands) are cut now, so we don’t know what’s happening,” said Eric Durpaire, the chief of Vanuatu’s field office for Unicef Pacific, over the phone from the country’s capital of Port Vila. “The latest information we had was that the roof of the municipality building of Santo has collapsed and there is flooding.”
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Read more: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2020/apr/06/communications-down-after-category-5-cyclone-harold-hits-vanuatu
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I hope all goes as well as it can. 
