El-Nino in the South Pacific: Level 4 cyclone has Vanuatu in its sights

Red Alert still in effect for Vanuatu's southern islands

The category four Severe Tropical Cyclone Ula is tracking in a southerly direction close to Vanuatu's southern islands.

Updated at 8:25 am today

Radio NZ,

11 January, 2016

Map tracking Cyclone Ula    Photo: Vanuatu Met Service

Early this morning it was situated 160km south southeast of Aneityum and 250km south southeast of Tanna.

On its current path it could hit the same region devastated last March by Cyclone Pam which killed 11 people, left tens of thousands homeless and wiped out entire food crops.

Winds close to the centre are estimated at 165km/h and the Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office is advising that a 'Red Alert' is still in effect for Anietyum Island, in Tafea province.

The NDMO met with aid agencies yesterday and Operations Manager Peter Korisa said it gave his office an idea of which aid agencies were working where.

"There are some societies or NGO that have their own workers on those islands and it's another resource we can capitalise on, and we can use them to provide a safe option and useful information we need," Mr Korisa said.

On Sunday, residents in Tafea province were feeling the effects of tropical cyclone Ula.

Vanuatu Meteorology services lead forecaster Fred Jockley said he had spoken to people on Aneityum, Futuna, and south Tanna.

"People are calling in and telling us that yes, they are receiving strong winds already, and people from Futuna have gone out to tighten their houses, local houses in Futuna."

Mr Jockley said some village chiefs in the province had called local fishermen into shore, and had also warned people not to go out to sea.

New Caledonia has now issued a cyclone alert level for the island of Mare.

Vanuatu on red alert as Cyclone Ula nears

Residents of Vanuatu are taking shelter as a category 4 cyclone brings heavy rain and strong winds to the same area devastated by the largest cyclone in the South Pacific island nation's history last year, aid workers say.

Disaster management authorities have issued a red alert for islands in Tafea, the southernmost of Vanuatu's six provinces, a spokesman of CARE Australia told Reuters.

'Most people are sheltering in schools and churches, the only permanent buildings on these islands,' Sam Bolitho said. 'Some people are also sheltering in caves.'

The eye of the storm, Ula, is not expected to pass over any islands but the ring of the cyclone is causing damage, Bolitho said in an email.

Islanders are bracing for winds expected to reach up to 165km/h, besides flash flooding, landslides and storm surges.

Last March, tropical cyclone Pam, a category 5 storm, the highest classification, wiped out more than 90 per cent of Vanuatu's crops, tore up homes and power networks, killed 11 and disrupted the lives of most of its 252,800 people.

'This time, people are taking every possible precaution,' said Inga Mepham, CARE's Vanuatu program director, adding that the aid agency was working with disaster authorities to spread the latest weather information and take precautionary measures.