Vanuatu: Preparing for a Cyclone

When I think of natural disasters I think of the chaos, the immediate panic, the confused thoughts of where did I leave my torch and where are the spare batteries?

I had never considered the opposite reality of a cyclone - the waiting.

But right now I’m waiting for a disaster that might wreak havoc on my island home of Vanuatu, or maybe it won’t make landfall at all.

Over the past five days I’ve learnt cyclones are unlike other natural disasters.

I’ve experienced a few minor earthquakes since I moved to Port Vila almost a year ago.

I can imagine the headline- “Aid worker afraid of overreacting to earthquake found beside her bed rather than hiding for cover”.

The first time I was relieved that my shaking door was in fact an earthquake and not someone trying to break into my house. The largest one sounded like a rumbling truck was driving fast down the highway. That was until my cyclone shutters started to shake and the tiled floor vibrated like a mobile phone going unanswered. I ran to my bedroom and sat on the floor, I didn’t want to seem like I was overreacting. In hindsight it would be a pretty dumb way to die. I can imagine the headline- “Aid worker afraid of overreacting to earthquake found beside her bed rather than hiding for cover”.

A foreboding cyclone is different. I’ve had since Thursday to think about what supplies I need and whether to hide under my bed or in the bathroom.

I was back in Australia last week for a workshop and as fate would have it, I was able to depart Brisbane with a satellite phone, wifi hotspot, and solar blanket so that if power and phone lines go down, I can still contact our Emergency Communications specialists at World Vision.

I spent Sunday walking around in a daze, trying to think what I needed to prepare for a cyclone. For those of you who haven’t walked around a shopping centre faced with the confusing task of buying items to prepare for a cyclone, imagine Christmas shopping for a relative you don’t know, so you buy what you think are the safe options but you’re not really sure if what you buy is right.

I bought what I guess are the Christmas present equivalent of socks or perfume in terms of disaster preparation; a radio, power banks and spare batteries, a head torch and water purification tablets.

I have spent the past five days waiting for a cyclone.

My kitchen cupboards now look like I’m on some sort of carb loading diet; there’s brown rice and pasta galore and various tinned vegetables, tuna and curry sauces. And for if the going gets really tough – chocolate and pizza shaped biscuits.

I have spent the past five days waiting for a cyclone.

Unlike my moments of earthquake practice a few months ago, I’ve had time to not just to go to the supermarket, but to discuss exactly where I’ll go before the cyclone hits, and who do I call.

In the World Vision office we’ve been able to set up our emergency management systems and contingency plans so we are prepared to respond in the communities we work in.   

And now we prepare and wait.

About the author | Chloe Morrison is Grants and Communications Officer for World Vision in Vanuatu.

Note: Cyclone Pam is expected to make landfall at the end of the week. World Vision Vanuatu currently has prepositioned Non-food items (NFIs) in Port Vila and also on Santo Island. Prepositioned NFIs include hygiene, shelter and kitchen kits as well as tarpulins, blankets, jerry cans.