Attachments
Highlights
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Vanuatu’s National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) estimates that 251,346 people were affected by Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin which made landfall between 1-3 March 2023.
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Co-leading the Displacement and Evacuation Centre Management cluster with NDMO, IOM continues to provide technical support, assess the displacement situation, and coordinate referrals through the national clusters using displacement tracking data.
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IOM is working closely with the NDMO and cluster partners to deliver shelter and non-food items (S/NFIs) targeting vulnerable, displacementaffected households.
Situation Overview
Cyclones Judy and Kevin impacted Vanuatu on 1st and 3rd March, respectively. The National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) in Vanuatu estimates that 251,346 people were affected by Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin, across five identified priority areas. The most impacted Priority 1 zone, which received sustained Category 3 and 4 winds of between 118 – 211km/hr during both cyclones, includes the islands of Efate in Shefa province, and all islands within Tafea province (Tanna, Aniwa, Futuna, Erromango and Aneityum), totaling 124,000 residents. Response at present is focused within this Priority 1 area. Vanuatu NDMO estimates that approximately 90% of houses within the Priority 1 area are completely or severely damaged, with widespread damage to water sources and supply, and extensive damage to crops.
The Displacement and Evacuation Centre Management (DECM) Cluster (co-led by NDMO and IOM), reports 41 evacuation centres (including schools, churches and halls) remain active on the island of Efate, a decrease from a peak of 51 active centres on this island. Eighteen evacuation centres have been reported in Tafea province and 15 have been reported on islands other than Efate in Shefa province. As of 24 March 2023, a total of 2,117 displaced persons (453 households) were staying in evacuation centres (1,305 individuals from 323 households) and with host families (812 individuals from 130 households) in identified locations in Shefa and Tafea provinces and lack adequate shelter materials to enable them to return to their homes in a safe and dignified manner. Data cleaning and analysis of the NDMO-coordinated rapid assessment continues, as does collection of evacuation centre data from the outer islands, thus these reported numbers are not exhaustive. Public release of official results will provide greater depth of understanding of damage, priority needs and impacted population.