It was a stormy night.  The cyclone has a name now it is called Cook.  Which isn't a good sign when they name them.  The radio warning this morning said it is slow moving and is likely to bring strong winds to the Shefa province this morning, Port Vila, Efate Island is in the Shefa Province. Here are some photos of our shutters and the damage this morning outside our house.  Some of the palms were cut down to prevent damage in the winds. Cook is forecast to develop into a category 3 as it heads south to New Caledonia.

There is flooding in Vila, we went for a drive this morning with our landlord (Tony) there are lots of small branches and foliage on the ground.  There are some larger trees blown over.  We can see some damage to houses, with roofing iron lifted and damage to the side of the buildings.  But it appears that Vila has survived Cook (so far)


This is one of our windows with half the shutter on.  All our windows are now covered.  The 20mm ply slides on the tracks.  very simple and effective.

Outside our house taken last night

Beside our house, branches broken and a big mess.

This pawpaw broken and fell on our tomatoes we planted this week.  I have put some soil around the plants, lets see how many survive.

Outside our building complex, pawpaw snapped off in the wind

This is the back of our house , banana palms broken, and manioc trees snapped off.  (manioc is like a taro. The roots are a staple for cooking, and making a flour.

Another shot of the back of the house

This is the flooded road behind our house (you can see the flood in some of the other shots)

This pawpaw was cut down to prevent damage to the house.  It took only a couple of cuts and the wind snapped it off.  The cyclone advisory advised to cut off branched of the bananas and pawpaw to reduce the damage caused by the cyclone.