Alert 417: Cyclone Harold in Vanuatu
Blog Post
Vanuatu is regularly ranked as the world’s most vulnerable country to disaster, located on the “ring of fire” earthquake zone and the Pacific cyclone belt. Every year, Vanuatu faces the threat of cyclones. Many of these cyclones are damaging, but sometimes they are devastating. It took Vanuatu years to recover from 2015’s Tropical Cyclone Pam, which caused destruction worth 64% of its GDP. Tropical Cyclone Harold, which slammed into Vanuatu’s northern provinces on 6 April 2020, proved to be almost as devastating. Hitting in the middle of a national state of emergency to prevent an outbreak of COVID-19, the response was even more challenging.
With support from the Start Fund, CARE Vanuatu, World Vision and Save the Children worked with local partners on the ground to implement the response.
The Start Fund is collectively owned and managed by Start Network’s members, and supported by the governments of the United Kingdom, Ireland, the Netherlands, Germany, Jersey and the IKEA Foundation.
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