Family await news of missing teen in Vanuatu

Courtney and her sister Eden at the airport just before Courtney left for Vanuatu.

The family of a Tauranga teenager living on a remote Vanuatu island has yet to hear from her after Cyclone Pam struck.

Courtney Tilby, 18, has been volunteering as a teacher in the small village of Namaram on Pentecost Island, north of Port Vila, since early February as part of a six-month trip and last called home on Thursday night.

Miss Tilby's mother, Kerri Tilby-Price, is remaining positive and believes it is just a communication fault keeping her daughter from making contact, although she admits it will be a huge relief to hear from her.

She expected the storm had cut communication as it had to most of the islands.

A Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade spokesperson said contact with the outer islands was proving difficult due to the lack of communication facilities.

When asked in writing how many New Zealanders were unaccounted for in Vanuatu, the ministry yesterday did not provide an answer.

Eight deaths have been confirmed in cyclone-torn Vanuatu with more than 40 casualties reported. Ruined crops and a looming food shortage are expected to compound the disaster.

Miss Tilby, who attended Bethlehem College, was living in a basic house but with no concrete or solid infrastructure in her village, it was still the safest place to shelter from the storm.

Mrs Tilby-Price believed it was one of the village's stronger homes and thought a number of people would have sheltered there.

The village had prepared for the storm as much as possible by cutting down trees and securing what they could, Mrs Tilby-Price said, but her daughter had not seem worried.

Her biggest concern on Thursday night was that her friend's dress had been eaten by rats, she said.

"She was laughing and she just said 'I'll talk to you after the storm'."

The 18-year-old was not the type to let it concern her, her mother said.

"They'd been well prepared for it and she wasn't anxious about it at all.

"She's been through some tough stuff before and she's pretty resilient.

"My friend said she would have rebuilt the entire village by the time we hear from her and I thought that's probably about right." Miss Tilby had already devoted a lot of her life to voluntary work in Mexico, Tonga and Kenya before heading to Vanuatu and thrived in those environments, Mrs Tilby-Price said.

"She was just loving it. It's definitely her place in the world, doing those kinds of things."

Her dream was to complete a law degree at Victoria University, Wellington, in 2016 and eventually work for the United Nations.

"People have asked me if I think she'll come home [early] ... unless she's seriously injured or something like that I can't imagine she'll come back. She'll want to stay and help."

She had formed "very strong bonds" with many of the families in the village already and called some of the girls her "sisters" and would want to help them rebuild their lives.

Mrs Tilby-Price understood an Australian Defence Force plane flew over the island yesterday and "by all accounts it didn't look too bad" so she was very optimistic.

"I'm completely at peace. I've had my little cry and I've got over my anxious mother stage and I know she'll be fine. She'll be busy helping."

Despite her optimism, she admitted it would be a huge relief when they did eventually hear from her.

"A friend asked if I'd let her know when we heard from her. I said the whole freaking world will know when we hear from her."

Australian and Kiwi families of people unaccounted for had connected through a Facebook page and were sharing information as it came through which was a great help and support, she said.

She had been in contact with the grand-daughter of the chief of Namaram, who she had also not heard from.