Londar

Londar

Interview with Chief of Londar Village

In this harrowing interview, Michele Clement, a local chief and the chairman of the Community Disaster and Climate Change Committee (CDCCC) discusses the immense challenge faced by the evacuation officers to keep the community safe, when all around them the buildings were being blown to pieces by Cat. 5 Cyclone Harold in Londar Village, South Pentecost, Vanautu.

“As the cyclone got stronger, we lost all hope. We tried to shelter everyone with tarpaulins, but when the wind changed direction, that was it, we were just exposed and soaked, and stood there like that in the rain until the morning”

We know there are stories like this in many villages; but thank you Michele for speaking on their behalf by sharing your experience and giving us some insight. He also describes the damage to the school and crops, and ends with an appeal for help to build a stronger, safer evacuation centre that can shelter the community during the next disaster.

Interview Summary

Londar sits on top of a hill which is a very difficult ascent. You can see a bit of the damage to the trees and the rest of the village in the camera pan.

Michael is a chairman of the local council. He describes that in preparation, they tried to evacuate everyone, but this cyclone was too strong. There is a community centre which was the evacuation centre. Michael describes that, even though they were in the evacuation centre, it fell down, they ran to another building and that fell down, and so on until there were no more buildings. A group of men took a tarpaulin in their hands and tried to shelter everyone. The tarpaulin blew away and so they stood in the rain and they stayed like that until the wind died down. 

There are 318 people in this village. As the cyclone got stronger and stronger, they lost all hope. In each separate evacauation place, they were trying to seal and reinforce the buildings to no avail. All they wanted was somewhere safe for the vulnerable, the children and babies to shelter in. When the cyclone got to its maximum strength, there was nothing more that could be done but standing in the rain. He is proud that the CDCCC (the council) managed to protect everyone despite of the cyclone, including the children and babies. He is proud of the officers of the council because they stood by the sides of the children, women and were there throughout, standing their ground until the morning. 

At the school, the old and new offices were blown down and some were completely blown away. In terms of the classrooms, there is a lot of damage to the rooms and walls. Everything is wet. It won’t be possible to have students return to the school. There are no books or anything that survived in the school left to teach the children with. 

In terms of water, there are some tanks that can be used. People have to walk with a bucket to collect water. There is a water supply but it is contaminated so it is not safe to drink. At the moment, they have no choice but to eat the damaged crops. The crops are rotten but there is no choice but to eat them anyway. 

On the behalf of the community, Michael says the thing that is needed the most is a cyclone proof evacuation centre.