{"id":3363,"date":"2015-03-17T13:30:32","date_gmt":"2015-03-17T20:30:32","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/?p=3363"},"modified":"2015-03-17T13:29:42","modified_gmt":"2015-03-17T20:29:42","slug":"vanuatu-before-cyclone-pam","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/vanuatu-before-cyclone-pam\/","title":{"rendered":"Vanuatu before Cyclone Pam"},"content":{"rendered":"

\"Vanuatu9<\/a><\/p>\n

CYCLONE PAM DEVASTATED VANUATU.<\/h2>\n

If you follow the news, you’ve seen pictures of the devastation left behind in Vanuatu by Cyclone Pam, a category 5 cyclone that hit the small island nation on Saturday. It was a monster cyclone. Wind gusts of up to 190 mph<\/a> were recorded, and they left severe damage to homes, crops and infrastructure. It’s estimated that ninety percent of the houses and infrastructure were damaged or destroyed.<\/p>\n

When we lived in Vanuatu in 1990-93, we knew the country was vulnerable to natural disasters. We experienced a couple of minor cyclones and a handful of medium-sized earthquakes. But no one expected a monster cyclone like this.<\/p>\n

SOME NI-VANUATU FORCED TO DRINK SALT WATER.<\/h2>\n

Vanuatu’s population of 258, 000<\/a> is spread over 60 islands, most of which have no airport or deep-water port, so it’s hard to reach the people who live there with relief supplies. Due to a lack of fresh water, according to the BBC<\/a> some people have been forced to drink salt water.<\/p>\n

BEFORE THE STORM<\/h2>\n

Today I’d like to share with you a few pictures from my photo album so you can see how beautiful Vanuatu was, and will be again.<\/p>\n

\"Vanuatu8<\/a>Perfect weather, clean air, sparkling clear water, and white coral sand beaches. This is me on Hideaway Island during an afternoon of snorkeling, lunch and hanging out.<\/p>\n

\"Vanuatu3<\/a>Another day at the beach, a day trip on the Coongoola.<\/p>\n

\"Vanuatu7<\/a>The house we rented in Port Vila had a good view of two lagoons.<\/p>\n

\"Vanuatu10<\/a>Lunch with by husband, Eugene. I don’t think this house blew down. But it may have lost its roof.<\/p>\n

\"Vanuatu5<\/a>Papaya trees grow fast in Vanuatu, bearing fruit after maybe seven months. Since the trunks are easily broken, this cyclone must have broken many papaya trees. Even though they’re fast growing, seven months is a long time to wait for a food the ni-Vanautu depend on.<\/p>\n

Come back on Sunday for another look at Vanuatu before the storm.<\/p>\n

\"my<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

CYCLONE PAM DEVASTATED VANUATU. If you follow the news, you’ve seen pictures of the devastation left behind in Vanuatu by Cyclone Pam, a category 5 cyclone that hit the small island nation on Saturday. It was a monster cyclone. Wind gusts of up to 190 mph were recorded, and they left severe damage to homes, […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[717],"tags":[723,718,722,719,720,721,307],"class_list":["post-3363","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-vanuatu","tag-coongoola-cruise","tag-cyclone-pam-hits-vanuatu","tag-hideaway-island","tag-monster-cyclone-in-south-pacific","tag-ni-vanuatu-forced-to-drink-salt-water","tag-population-of-vanuatu","tag-port-vila-vanuatu"],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p3Kn1e-Sf","jetpack-related-posts":[{"id":3397,"url":"https:\/\/nickichenwrites.com\/wordpress\/vanuatu\/3397\/","url_meta":{"origin":3363,"position":0},"title":"Vanuatu before Cyclone Pam, Part 2","author":"Nicki Chen","date":"March 22, 2015","format":false,"excerpt":"VANUATU, SOUTH PACIFIC PARADISE These smiling, fun-loving ni-Vanuatu children were typical of the people my husband and I met when we lived in Vanuatu in the early 1990s. 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