Local man in Vanuatu helping with clean up

Damage in Port Vila after Cyclone Pam ripped through the island archipelago over the weekend. Photo / UNICEF Pacific

Whangarei man Stephen Bean experienced first hand the trauma suffered by people during Cyclone Pam in Vanuatu and is now helping in the clean up, including retrieving the body of a yachtie.

The Maungakaramea resident has been running a plumbing and waste management company in the Vanuatu capital Port Vila for seven years and was among thousands who were caught up in the deadly storm on Friday evening.

"People here reckon it was one of the worst disasters in the Southern Hemisphere. There's just destruction everywhere and locals bore the brunt.

"The whole place was vibrating and every second home had its roof blown off. But it's the aftermath when nothing is left that you wonder if it's a movie you are seeing."

Mr Bean said authorities reckoned it would be at least two weeks before power was restored to households, although some businesses were up and running in the capital.

He said the worst weather was experienced between 11pm on Friday and 3am on Saturday, when the roofs started blowing off homes.

"I've spent so much time helping out ... it's hard both physically and mentally, plus there's no power which makes it even harder."

While Mr Bean is booked to fly home later this month, mother of five Jaqueline Jimmy is heading back home to Port Vila tomorrow.

The 29-year-old arrived on November 19 last year to spend Christmas with her mother Benesta Fox, who lives in Kawakawa, and is facing the grim reality of going back to a tail of destruction.

The house she shares with her uncle in Port Vila has been damaged by a falling tree and her mother, who lives on another island, lost her hut.

"I was very lucky to be here during the cyclone but feel very sorry for my relatives back home.

"I have experienced cyclones before but not as bad as Pam," she said.