The parents of Canberra teen volunteer Zoe Marshall say they are extremely relieved their daughter has been found safe and well after she was previously unaccounted for in the wake of Vanuatu's Cyclone Pam.
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Ms Marshall told her ecstatic parents she had been airlifted off her home at Pentecost Island and arrived at nearby Santo on Friday, before an expected transfer to the capital Port Vila in the afternoon.
The 18-year-old was among 19 volunteer teachers, including eight Australians, unaccounted for on the remote northern island on Wednesday after the category 5 cyclone swept through the region on March 13, devastating much of the country.
Earlier on Friday her parents received the news that a helicopter pilot has sighted her on Pentecost Island in Vanuatu, to the enormous relief of her family.
Her mother Alison Abernethy says she is "absolutely delighted" at the news that her daughter is safe.
"It's so exciting, we are absolutely delighted. This is fantastic news," Ms Abernethy said.
"She just said it was exciting to find a toilet that worked!"
Father Mr Marshall said it was a story she would be telling for many years to come.
All the huts in her village had been flattened in the storm, but no one had been hurt, according to Ms Abernethy.
"The food supply was a bit sketchy at first but they found taro and cabbages so it has all been good since them," she said.
While communication on the island had been down since the storm, she was finally able to call her parents from the island on Friday morning before she was airlifted out.
Prior to the phone call this morning, Ms Abernethy last heard from her daughter on March 12 via text message as the Watson teenager bunkered down in anticipation of the storm.
Flights pick up other Australian volunteers
Australian Defence Force helicopter flights landed on the remote island where she was staying on Thursday picking up five other Australians, taking them to Santo and Port Vila.
The helicopters were unable to pick up Ms Marshall and her volunteering partner as they were located too close to a cliff, Ms Abernethy said.
The pilot dropped the pair instructions for where she could walk to so, depending on conditions, another helicopter flight on Friday could pick them up.
"The girls waved and smiled and they dropped the note to them," Ms Abernethy said.
Zoe likely to stay on after storm
Ms Marshall, who graduated from Dickson College last year and has deferred an engineering place at the University of New South Wales, left for Vanuatu on February 9 for the five-month program, teaching school children in grades 1, 2, 5 and 6.
Mr Marshall said his daughter plans to stay volunteering in Vanuatu through the recovery, and return, if permitted, to her temporary island home.
In a text message from Santo, she said there was "a lot to do out there" and she really wanted to go back.
The death toll from the cyclone currently stands at 11, but is expected to rise in coming days. Meanwhile villagers and isolated communities are facing serious food shortages after the cyclone devastated crops.
"She will be right to go back and continue her placement. We don't expect her to come home," she said.
The public can donate to the Red Cross Cyclone Pam appeal here.
