WATCH: Towns in Vanuatu woke up Monday to face devastation, and it seems likely the death toll of 24 will rise as aid workers make their way into outlying islands. Laura Aguirre reports.
TORONTO — The small Pacific island nation of Vanuatu is struggling to pick up the pieces after powerful Tropical Cyclone Pam slammed into the country on Friday.
The cyclone produced winds of up to 300 km/h tearing down homes, knocking down power lines and trees.
“This is a very devastating cyclone in Vanuatu. I term it as a monster, a monster,” Vanuatu’s president Baldwin Lonsdale told the Associated Press. “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.”
Lonsdale also confirmed that six people had been killed and another 30 were injured as a result of the cyclone.
Aid from Australia, France and Fiji has begun slowly arriving to the embattled country.
–with files from the Associated Press
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