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Vanuatu PM Kalsakau says Cyclone Judy ‘impacts are widespread’
The people of Vanuatu are being urged to brace for a second cyclone just 24 hours after Severe Tropical Cyclone Judy battered the country on Wednesday completely cutting off telecommunication in parts of the Pacific nation.
Cyclone Judy, with wind speeds of up to 200kph at its peak, left a trail of destruction across the country; causing floods, damaging homes buildings, and leaving thousands of residents without electricity and running water.
The southern islands of Erramango and Tanna – reported to be the hardest hit – remain off-line.
But just as that category four system weakened and moved away from Vanuatu, the Fiji weather office confirmed Cyclone Kevin – currently a category two system – is gaining momentum and is due to batter the islands late on Thursday and into Friday local time.
A tropical cyclone forecaster with the Fiji Meteorological Service Stephen Meke said Kevin is forecast to intensify bringing damaging gale force winds that will be felt from Thursday night.
“It could even go further to a category three.”
“For now, we are maintaining it as a category two. We expect a lot of rain, severe flooding for flood prone areas, as well as expecting six to eight meter waves…even up to 10 metres,” he added.
The islands of Pentecost, Santo and Malekula have been issued warnings in anticipation of Cyclone Kevin.
“We are a resilient people. We will get through this,” Prime Minister Ishmael Kalsakau told RNZ Pacific.
“God never forsakes his people! We are also very humbled and gratified by the generous support and kind gestures of our families around the Pacific and the world.”
Manager of Vanuatu Traveller and Tanna Adventures Greg Watt and his wife have been working with communities in Tanna for the last 15 years.
The couple are currently in Aotearoa and said that they have not heard anything from the people and communities they have come to love.
“Today is going to be the worst day for them,” Watt said.
“I sent a message just telling them what is happening hoping they are all right.”
Watt said he is having flashbacks of Cyclone Pam, the second most intense tropical cyclone ever to form in the Southern Pacific Ocean, which tore up Tanna in 2015.
“When I got there [after Cyclone Pam] 90 percent of the homes were wiped out 90 percent of all their crops and food were wiped out,” he said.
He is hoping that lessons were learnt from 2015 and the families he holds dearly, in the southern islands, make it through the wrath of Cyclone Kevin.
A road blocked by the uprooted trees after Cyclone Judy made landfall in Port Vila, Vanuatu on March 1, 2023. Photo: AFP / Jean-Baptiste Jeangène Vilmer
Government working to restore communications
The government has confirmed that police and the national disaster management office have been desperately trying to get connectivity back up and running as crews work at ‘breakneck speed’ to get the grid back into shape.
Kalsakau told RNZ Pacific “the impacts are widespread” but the that the full scale of the damages will not be known until Saturday, when Cyclone Kevin is forecasted to pass the island’s waters.
“Much of the communications have been restored,” he said.
“It is difficult to try to get hold of people on Erramango and Tanna. We do not know whether the antennas are down or what, but once we get information we will be able to let everybody know.”
He added there is a lot damage on Efate island as well, where the capital Port Vila is located.
“We [were] working the whole day yesterday [Wednesday] and right until [Thursday] morning trying to try to sort everything out.”
So far, there have not been any reports of loss of life.
A journalist in Vanuatu Dan McGarry said the residents in Port Vila emerged relatively unscathed from Cyclone Judy.
“I think it is safe to say that the capital got through Cyclone Judy with relatively limited damage,” he said.
“Cleanup is preparing rapidly as we prep[pare] for tomorrows repeat cyclone.”
Meanwhile, Foreign Affiars Minister Nanaia Mahuta said via a tweet on Thursday that the government was “watching the situation closely & will respond to Vanuatu’s requests for help where we can, in cooperation with our partners.”
SOURCE RNZ
The chief executive of the Parliamentary Service is confident there will be enough room to accommodate the increased number of MPs and their staff coming into Parliament.
On current numbers, up to 131 MPs could be sitting in the Chamber following the election, brought on by a record overhang result.
Clerk of the House of Representatives Dr David Wilson told the Spinoff that currently the debating chamber had enough chairs to seat 124 MPs – including the Speaker of the House – and work was being done to accommodate more by altering the seating arrangement.
In a statement, Parliamentary Service chief executive Rafael Gonzalez-Montero said planning for a larger Parliament had been going for “some time”.
“Now that the election results have confirmed an increase to the number of members we are looking at several options.
“We are confident we will be able to accommodate all members within the Chamber.”
VNP / Phil Smith
Gonzalez-Montero said office accommodation for members and their staff would be “stretched” for a short time, but the new Members’ Building was only a few months away from “practical completion”.
That building – located behind Parliament – was due to be ready to occupy in April next year and had capacity to accommodate around 30 backbench MPs.
“All members should be in fit-for-purpose accommodation from that point,” Gonzalez-Montero said.
Following the 2023 election, 123 MPs sat in the Chamber – a record number at the time. That decreased to 122 following the resignation of National MP Judith Collins.
Collins held the seat of Papakura and stepped down in May and Parliament voted against holding a by-election because it was too close to the election.
The election result also meant high-ranking National Party MPs like Chris Bishop, Paul Goldsmith, Nicola Willis and Gerry Brownlee – Speaker of the House and an MP for 30 years – would likely not make it back into Parliament.
Only resigning or retiring MPs were permitted to give a valedictory speech meaning none of them would get the chance to give a valedictory statement.
Asked if their would be special allowances for valedictories, Wilson said in a statement that normally only MPs were allowed to speak in the House but the House could suspend its own rules or temporarily alter them.
“It could do so to allow former members to address the House.”
Wilson said no such arrangements could be made until the next Parliament opened and members sworn in.
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