4 May 2015

Vanuatu to feel strain as international aid recedes

6:43 am on 4 May 2015

The Vanuatu National Disaster Management Office says it's beginning to feel the strain of having to run under its own steam as the international response to Cyclone Pam scales back.

The first images emerge of destruction in Tanna, Vanuatu, after Cyclone Pam.

The first images emerge of destruction in Tanna, Vanuatu, after Cyclone Pam. Photo: SUPPLIED / Jeremy Pinero

The office's operations manager, Peter Korisa, says those who came to help in the immediate aftermath of the category five cyclone are now going home and Vanuatu will have to start looking after itself.

He says his people will continue doing the best they can with the available resources.

"And also I do not have an answer to say whether we cannot do, we are not capable or we cannot cope with this situation. Of course I could put it as a challenge. It is a challenge for us with our local capacity that we have at the moment, we are trying our best, trying to use whatever resource we have at the moment. It is overwhelming for us but again we do our best and we try to handle the situation."

Peter Korisa says he is grateful for the immediate and ongoing international assistance offered after the cyclone devastated much of the island.