Cyclone Pam batters Vanuatu

A boat that ran aground in Port Vila in cyclone-ravaged Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam tore through the area, packing wind gusts of up to 168 miles an hour. (Fred Payet / AFP/Getty Images)

March 16, 2015 9:23 AM PT

Officials in Vanuatu had still not made contact with outlying islands by Monday night and were struggling to determine the scale of devastation from the cyclone, which tore through the nation, packing winds of 168 miles per hour.

Aerial photo taken above the suburbs of Port Vila shows damages inflicted to buildings in Vanuatu after Cyclone Pam tore through the area. (Fred Payet / AFP/Getty Images)

Adrian Banga surveys his destroyed house in Port Vila, Vanuatu, in the aftermath of Cyclone Pam. (Dave Hunt / Associated Press)