Post Disaster Needs Assessment Vanuatu Tropical Cyclones Judy and Kevin 2023

Tropical Cyclone Judy (TC Judy) struck the archipelago of Vanuatu on 01 March 2023, making landfall on Efate Island, where the capital city of Port Vila is located. On 03 March 2023, Vanuatu was hit by Tropical Cyclone Kevin (TC Kevin). Both TC Judy and Kevin were Category 4 cyclones that caused significant damage due to wind, heavy rains, flooding and storm surge. Early on March 3rd Vanuatu was also affected by two earthquakes, of magnitude 6.5 and 5.4, with the epicenter around 30 km west off the island of Espiritu Santo, although their impact was fortunately not significant. 

According to the National Disaster Management Office (NDMO), a total of 197,388 people (43,623 households) were affected by TC Judy and Kevin, representing approximately 66 percent of the total population. However, more than 80 percent of the population (251,346 people) were affected by cyclone winds of Category 2 to 3. To date, there are no reports of casualties. 

The purpose of the PDNA was to identify the damage and loss caused by TC Judy and Kevin across all sectors, to assess the macro-economic and human impact of these disasters, to estimate the recovery needs in all sectors, and to inform Vanuatu’s short-, medium- and long-term recovery and reconstruction process through a well-planned Recovery Plan aligned to the country’s National Sustainable Development Plan 2016-2030. This report presents the final results of the PDNA.