Stranded Northland couple in cyclone-struck Vanuatu fly back in Hercules

Phil and Natalie Snowdon are all smiles after arriving back in Auckland on a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules. Photo / Supplied

A Northland couple caught up in a category five tropical cyclone while holidaying in Vanuatu were among stranded Kiwis flown back home on a Royal New Zealand Air Force Hercules.

Kerikeri couple Phil and Natalie Snowdon touched down in Auckland overnight on Saturday and were taken to the Novotel in Ellerslie for a mandatory 14-day quarantine.

They left New Zealand on March 13 and were due to return 12 days later but their Air Vanuatu flight got cancelled a day prior to the scheduled departure.

Tropical Cyclone Harold packing winds of up to 235km/h and gusts at times of 300km/h battered the island of 276,000 people last Monday, downed powerlines, causing flooding, blew homes, and uprooted trees.

The Snowdons stayed at a friend's house in Luganville, the main town on the island of Espiritu Santo, and thought there was potential to fly back home given the Covid-19 situation in New Zealand.

They flew to the capital Port Vila a week prior to their international flight but the Vanuatu Government cancelled all overseas flights on March 24.

"It was bizarre because there was a plane-full of people ready to go. We then found a place to stay, at the two-year-old Ramada Resort, but the tourists had all gone and they gave us unbelievably cheap rates," Phil Snowdon said.

"But we sensed things were ramping up in terms of the cyclone and we thought the next thing is the Government will cancel the domestic flights so we chartered a flight back to Luganville."

The couple managed to get hold of the NZ High Commission staff on Thursday and received a confirmation a Hercules would fly to Vanuatu some time this weekend and that priority would be given to senior citizens and families with children.

Snowdon said there was no way of knowing which way the cyclone was heading and when it was going to hit the hardest after they lost power on Saturday, forcing them to judge the cyclone's route by the wind direction.

Everything was absolutely destroyed and half the island's power lines were a tangled mess, he said.

"The house we were in was quite strong so we were safe but we still had to do things like close the window on one side of the house and open it at the other end otherwise the pressure would have blown the roof off.

"We had to jam stuff, put weights on the door... that kind of stuff. We've experienced tropical cyclones back home but by the time they reached New Zealand, they had weakened but this was a whole new experience.

"Monday was the worst day. We had to get rainwater off the rain to drink. It was fascinating sitting by the window and watching it all unfold. The cyclone blew like a b****** all day long. We saw a paddleboard fly 100m across the sea and a tree split in half."

Snowdon felt for the locals who were now without water, power, and a place to stay, while essential supplies were running low.

The Government had been working with the Australians and the French to see whether a commercial or military flight could be used to get foreigners out of the Pacific nation, citizens home and deliver any aid needed, he said.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said last week the Government's first priority was to help Vanuatu authorities and locals on the ground before focusing on repatriating Kiwis.