The president of the Pacific island nation of Vanuatu says his country must "start over" following a powerful cyclone that destroyed 90 per cent of the buildings on the main island of Port Vila.
Baldwin Lonsdale said in an interview that he and other top government officials were preparing to return home later Monday from Sendai, in northeastern Japan, where they were attending a disaster conference.
Lonsdale said that the limited information he was able to get from home showed six people confirmed dead on Port Vila after the category 5 typhoon smashed across the Vanuatu archipelago. He said information from other islands was not available because most communication links were still not working. But the airport in Port Vila has reopened, allowing aid and relief flights to reach the country.
