Over 3 billion vatu in early recovery costs of TC Judy and Kevin

In March, an unprecedented twin category 4 and 5 cyclones and an earthquake devasted Vanuatu again in just 48 hours. Couple of days later, acid rain from volcanic activity left crops wilting only to be followed by a week of heavy rainfall and flooding. These not only remind the world that seismic and climate hazards are converging and intensifying but also deviating from their traditional tracks and increasing in frequency. Their greater complexity results in deeper uncertainties in the ability to predict and prepare.

These disaster risks compound and cascade to amplify the great hardship experienced by Vanuatu in terms of population and critical infrastructure exposure. The Country is not sufficiently prepared and the longer periods of recovery as experienced by TC Pam in 2015 and TC Harold in 2023 leaves Vanuatu susceptible to increased threats and risks. According to the estimates from sectors published by the Recovery Operations Centre that was established in the Ministry of the Prime MInsiter to assist in the early recovery phase, the the total cost for the early recovery phase for the Society Pillar amounted to over VUV 2 billion; Economic Pillar early recovery cost was over a billion and the Environment pillar was over VUV 100 million..