PHOTO: Chief Willi Graham (L) and Justin Watson planto fly to Epi Island to help rebuild.(Supplied: Justin Watson)

RELATED STORY: Emergency aid reaches outlyingislands of Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam

It's really only hit home withthem in the past few days

how bad it is.

Justin Watson

#withVanuatu

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abc.net.au/appeals

Tropical Cyclone Pam: Epi Island men still waiting to hear fromfamilies after cycloneBy Daniel SmithUpdated Fri 20 Mar 2015, 12:04pm

As further news of the damage from Tropical Cyclone Pam in Vanuatugradually trickles in, 10 men from Epi Island are still waiting to hearfrom their families.

Cyclone Pam tore through the island archipelago with devastating force lastFriday, leaving around 70 per cent of the population displaced and at least13 confirmed dead.

Facebook photos posted late last night indicated that the families are safe,but the men, currently working on a farm in the Yarra Valley, have not beenable to make contact.

Willi Graham, chief of Lamen Bay, said he was talking to his family onFriday before the cyclone hit but that the phone line went dead in the middleof his conversation.

He said it was likely the phone tower on the island had blown over, andthere had been no communication since.

"You can't get anybody because the tower was damaged by the cyclone,"he said.

"We can't talk to someone in the village, there's no communication betweenus.

"Today will be a week since I've spoken to them of anyone from Lamen Bayor Epi.

"I think it is the worst cyclone that has ever come past the area of LamenBay."

Mr Graham's employer Justin Watson, who regularly visits the island, saidalthough the community had weathered cyclones before, Cyclone Pamlooked like the worst.

"They've had cyclones before and they've pulled through them OK, but...this one's been so much bigger and so much more devastating.

"It's really only hit home with them in the past few days how bad it is."

Donations can be made to the Australian Red Cross Tropical Cyclone Pam Appeal on their website

MAP: Vanuatu

redcross.org.au1800 811 700

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Before and after Cyclone Pam

Witness the devastation from the air in aerial photostaken before and after Cyclone Pam hit Vanuatu.

PHOTO: The men from Lamen Bay, currently working in the Yarra Valley, haven't heard from their families for a week since the cyclone hit.(Supplied: Justin Watson)

Lamen Bay now facing challenge of food and water

Mr Graham said the challenge facing Lamen Bay would now be access to food and water.

"Normally after a cyclone we will be out of food because the villages grow their food in the gardens," he said.

"So in a few weeks there will be no more food from the gardens.

"And most of the water pipes ... may be broken and there will be no morewater until they fix the pipes.

"It will be a very hard time for the people."

Mr Watson said he would be leading a team of tradesmen to help rebuild,after estimating from a flyover that the island was "70 to 80 per centdestroyed".

"We intend to go over there with some chainsaws and bring in some seedsas well, so that they can replant because their crops have been destroyed,"he said.

"Our first project will be reinstating the water supply, then we will look atrebuilding aid posts (which are in every village and funded by thecommunity normally) then the kindergarten and food gardens."

The team, operating under the name Hands for Epi, will also be joined by Mr Graham.

"It's very important that I can go with the team and see what's going on," he said.

You can support the ABC's #WithVanuatu appeal by donating at redcross.org.au, or by calling 1800 811 700. Tosupport Hands for Epi, email crashx3@bigpond.net.au.

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PHOTO: Children outside Epi Island kindergarten, which is feared to have been destroyed by the cyclone. (Supplied: Justin Watson)

Topics: climate-change, cyclone, cyclones, vanuatu

First posted Fri 20 Mar 2015, 9:04am

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