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Vanuatu president says nation must start anew after cyclone

In this March 15, 2015 photo provided by UNICEF Pacific, young children move around debris as residents work to recover from Cyclone Pam in Mele village, on the outskirts of the capital Port Vila, Vanuatu. Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale said the cyclone that hammered the tiny South Pacific archipelago was a "monster" that has destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the buildings in the capital and has forced the nation to start anew. (AP Photo/UNICEF Pacific) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES
In this March 15, 2015 photo provided by UNICEF Pacific, young children move around debris as residents work to recover from Cyclone Pam in Mele village, on the outskirts of the capital Port Vila, Vanuatu. Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale said the cyclone that hammered the tiny South Pacific archipelago was a "monster" that has destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the buildings in the capital and has forced the nation to start anew. (AP Photo/UNICEF Pacific) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES In this March 15, 2015 photo provided by UNICEF Pacific, young children move around debris as residents work to recover from Cyclone Pam in Mele village, on the outskirts of the capital Port Vila, Vanuatu. Vanuatu's President Baldwin Lonsdale said the cyclone that hammered the tiny South Pacific archipelago was a "monster" that has destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the buildings in the capital and has forced the nation to start anew. (AP Photo/UNICEF Pacific) EDITORIAL USE ONLY, NO SALES

By Associated Press 4 min read

WELLINGTON, New Zealand (AP) – Vanuatu’s president said Monday that the cyclone that hammered the tiny South Pacific archipelago over the weekend was a “monster” that has destroyed or damaged 90 percent of the buildings in the capital and has forced the nation to start anew.

Looking weary and red-eyed, Baldwin Lonsdale said in an interview with The Associated Press that the latest information he has is that six people are confirmed dead and 30 injured from Cyclone Pam. Lonsdale was interviewed in Sendai, in northeastern Japan, where he had been attending a disaster conference when the cyclone struck.

He appealed for international aid for the place he calls “paradise.”

“This is a very devastating cyclone in Vanuatu. I term it as a monster, a monster,” he said. “It’s a setback for the government and for the people of Vanuatu. After all the development that has taken place, all this development has been wiped out.”

The president said because of the break in communications, even he could not reach his family. “We do not know if our families are safe or not. As the leader of the nation, my whole heart is for the people, the nation,” he said.