Category 5 cyclone Pam struck Vanuatu on 13 and 14 March 2015, killing at least eleven people, causing serious damage to infrastructure and leaving debris across the capital. According to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), approximately 14,000 homes have been reported to be destroyed or damaged throughout the provinces of Penama, Malampa, Shefa and Tafea, and 65,000 are in need of temporary shelter.
Following severe inundation from storm surges and sea swells generated by Pam, the Government of Tuvalu declared a State of Emergency on 13 Mar. Seven islands have been affected. The worst affected were the northern islands of Nanumaga and Nanumea, and the central islands of Nui and Vaitupu. The main impacts are to shelter, infrastructure, food crops and livestock, and water and sanitation.
The international crowdsource mapping community became actively involved right after the event to provide detailed maps. Furthermore, on 12 March 2015, the International Charter: Space and Major Disasters was activated for Vanuatu to provide satellite imagery. UNOOSA/UN-SPIDER was requested to support Tuvalu in the acquisition of satellite imagery as well and activated its network in order to extend the existing Charter activation for Tuvalu as well.
OCHA's webservice reliefweb.int has compiled a list of all publicly available maps.
