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Two Connecticut-Based Agencies Respond to Cyclone Pam

Evan Schuurman
/
Save The Children
Save the Children staff in Vanuatu prepare to distribute aid packages that include hygiene kits, food and water.
Power outages are hindering communications. There are reports that thousands of homes are destroyed.

Two Connecticut-based agencies are responding to Cyclone Pam. The monster storm is believed to have left widespread destruction and killed an unknown number of residents on the South Pacific islands of Vanuatu. 

The storm is the strongest to make landfall since a Typhoon struck the Philippines in 2013.

Power outages are hindering communications, particularly in the remote islands, but there are reports that thousands of homes are destroyed. The president of Vanuatu has made a plea for international help.

According to its website, AmeriCares is equipping NYC Medics with emergency medicine and relief. That group will dispatch a team of professional medical volunteers.

AmeriCares has also offered assistance to humanitarian organizations based in Vanuatu, and may deploy its own emergency response team, if needed.

And Save The Children, based in Fairfield, is on the ground in Vanuatu and has started distributing relief to families affected by the cyclone.  

In the last few hours, 1,800 people sheltering in evacuation centers have received aid packages that include hygiene kits, food and water. 

Diane Orson is a special correspondent with Connecticut Public. She is a longtime reporter and contributor to National Public Radio. Her stories have been heard on Morning Edition, All Things Considered, Weekend Edition and Here And Now. Diane spent seven years as CT Public Radio's local host for Morning Edition.

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