Save the Children team off to Vanuatu

A seven-member disaster response team from Save the Children is flying from Australia to Vanuatu to assist in the destructive wake of tropical cyclone Pam.

Dozens of people are feared dead after the category five system slammed into the Pacific Island nation late on Friday with gusts up to 320km/h.

The first members of the Save the Children team are due to arrive in the islands later on Sunday and the rest early this week.

They include experts in health, shelter, water, sanitation and communications.

Save the Children's Head of Humanitarian Response Nichola Krey said they would team up with the aid group's workers who are already in the islands assessing damage before mounting an urgent relief operation.

"We expect to be met by mass devastation. This is by far the worst disaster ever in Vanuatu," she said in a statement.

"The main concern right now is for food as most people who rely on subsistence agriculture have lost their farms."

Ms Krey said there were also concerns about the health and safety of women and young children who were sleeping cheek by jowl in evacuation centres after their homes were destroyed.

Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has pledged to send whatever Australian support is needed.

"We are still assessing the situation but we stand ready to assist," she said on Saturday.