Before and After Photos Show Parts of Vanuatu Stripped Bare by Cyclone Pam

Zain Haidar
Published: March 27,2015




 
In mid-March, Cyclone Pam devastated Vanuatu, an archipelago in the South Pacific, and left thousands of its inhabitants homeless.
Images poured out of Vanuatu's many islands showing the wreckage, but none captured the scale of pilot William Dyer's bird's-eye-view.

Pam was the equivalent of a category five hurricane at the height of its strength, and as it struck Vanuatu on March 13 and 14, it took down miles of dense foliage, turning lush green landscapes into brown outcroppings.
(MORE: How You Can Help with Vanuatu's Disaster Relief) 

Tanna has a population of about 30,000 people.

Dyer, who has helped conduct aerial assessments of Vanuatu's many island chains, spoke to Australia's ABC News about the transformation."It's not complete defoliation — there's actually been complete destruction of the jungle in some places," Dyer said.
Vanuatu's populated capital Port Vila, on the south coast of Efate, received the most coverage, but the 27-year-old pilot snapped photos above the Sheppard Islands group, which saw the most severe destruction to its foliage.
"The Sheppards were hit pretty badly because the terrain is quite steep so there were lots of exposed areas," Dyer said.

Only a few thousands people live on Erromango, but it saw the worst winds of the two islands.

NASA satellites also captured imagery that reflected the storm's devastation on Tanna and Erromango, sister islands south of Port Vila. Both islands pictured were whipped by gusts up to 160 mph, leaving trees toppled.
Vanuatu's Emae and Epi islands, which Dyer surveyed, saw wind gusts of similar strength, according to Tropical Storm Risk.
Continue below for the rest of Dyer's stunning photos.