In pictures: Cyclone Pam hits Vanuatu
- Published
The Pacific nation of Vanuatu is assessing the devastation after Cyclone Pam struck on Saturday.
Most houses in the capital, Port Vila, have suffered damage. Trees have been uprooted and streets are filled with debris. President Baldwin Lonsdale said the "monster" storm was a setback to the nation's development.
Aid agencies have scrambled to fly in supplies into Port Vila, where power and water supplies have been knocked out.
The cyclone arrived on Saturday after gathering strength in the Pacific, bringing winds of more than 300kph (185mph).
Aid worker Chloe Morrison, who was in Port Vila when the cyclone hit, said: "Trees were crashing into the house. It was very, very frightening."
Concrete structures managed to withstand the pounding but wooden houses with corrugated iron roofs were demolished.
Tom Skirrow from Save the Children told the BBC that people in evacuation centres were living "under cramped conditions without adequate water, adequate food, adequate sanitation".
Infrastructure has also been hit, like this bridge. "The concern is that the people with the really bad injuries can't get to the hospital," British doctor Carina Smith told the BBC.
Of major concern are outlying southern islands that were in the direct path of the storm. This image shows damaged houses just outside Port Vila - but very little has been heard from more remote areas.
The cyclone also hit other Pacific nations. In Kiribati, it caused flash floods.
