Losing Everything
Imagine losing everything. Not just your house, but your vegetable garden, your school - right down to the few items of clothing you own.. Imagine that all communication towers were down so you don’t have any way of knowing if your family on other islands are okay. Just imagine how that would feel.
This is the reality for many families in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam. The Nandeap family live just 20 minutes’ drive from Port Vila in Salini Village, Vanuatu.
“In my village we lost everything,” tells Dick Nandeap a father of six.
“We tried to protect our houses, but the strength of the wind was stronger than anything I’ve ever felt,” he said.
The Nandeap family heard the early warnings of Cyclone Pam, including a visit from the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO) on Friday morning. Despite this, they didn’t think they’d need to evacuate.
Dick felt his family would still be safe at home, after braving many storms in his lifetime, including Vanuatu’s most destructive cyclone – Until Pam - in 1987, Cyclone Uma
By 5pm on Friday it was clear that this storm was different, so he and his family piled into local busses and headed for their nearest evacuation centre. They bunkered down with people from their local community.
When they left on Saturday morning to go back home, they were greeted with sheer devastation. They didn’t recognise their village, let alone their home, which was flattened.
“Only the Church and three houses are safe, most of our houses were completely destroyed. Everything in the garden has been destroyed - fruit, vegetables, trees – There’s nothing left.”
The village of Salini is now an obstacle course of fallen branches, twisted corrugated iron, and thatched roofs. Clothing is strewn on the muddy ground, toys have drowned in muddy water, cups and plates lie broken in the wake of this catastrophic storm.
Dick Nandeap and his family have lost so much – But they haven’t lost everything.
“We lost everything…But we still have each other. I have my family,” He says with a smile.