Kiwi endured cyclone's fury in concrete building

DEVASTATION: Former Whangarei man Peter Gearing, pictured in Port Vila, survived Tropical Cyclone Pam. PHOTO/SUPPLIED

A Whangarei squash identity caught up in Cyclone Pam on an island in Vanuatu without any way of contacting home was safely flown to the capital Port Vila nearly a week later.

Peter Gearing, a volunteer who worked on water projects in Tanna and Pentecost islands, left New Zealand in October last year and was expected to return home around May.

He co-owns the Northland Racket Shop in Whangarei with business partner Karen Dykzeul. He is part of New Zealand Volunteer Services Abroad which flew him to Port Vila on Thursday and he was then able to contact his worried family and friends.

"The damage is a lot worse in Port Vila than it is in Pentecost. There's so much damage here I can't believe," he told the Northern Advocate yesterday.

A lot of residents on Pentecost, he said, had to evacuate after their homes made of bamboo and palm leaves were blown away and their gardens with food planted in them destroyed. Mr Gearing sought shelter in a concrete building and was safe. He arrived on Pentecost from Tanna about 10 days before the cyclone hit.

"(It's a) bit of luck I was there (Pentecost). Luckily I wasn't on Tanna which was the worst of all places that were affected."

Tanna in the south was one of the hardest hit and the cyclone's 270km/h winds pummeled lush tropical forests on the island into a brown jumble of broken trunks and strewn branches. Five of the island's 30,000 residents died in the disaster.

Mr Gearing said he helped clear debris on Pentecost but was unsure what work was left for him after the cyclone.

Communication had always been a problem on Pentecost, he said.

"I wasn't really in any urgent need. I realised people must have been concerned but there was no contact, not even radio telephone on the island.

"Even before Pam, communication hasn't been great," Mr Gearing said.

He said there was a big relief programme being run in Port Vila and he may be asked to help. If not, he is likely to head back home.

Ms Dykzeul said she received a message from him yesterday after being concerned he had not been in contact since the cyclone hit.

A large coalition of national and international humanitarian organisations are co-ordinating to send aid to Vanuatu, where 3,300 people are sheltered in 48 evacuation centres.

They are already finding it difficult to communicate and travel between Vanuatu's 82 separate islands.