Tongans finally receive fresh water and have phone lines restored
The first flights carrying fresh water and much-needed aid have arrived in Tonga – almost a week after a huge tsunami devastated the island nation.
New Zealand and Australia each sent military transport planes carrying water containers, kits for temporary shelters, generators, hygiene supplies and communications equipment.
The packages are desperately needed as Tongans try to recover from the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on Saturday.
At least three people, including a British woman, were killed after tsunami waves were sent across the Pacific.
Communications were knocked out and water systems polluted by the toxic volcanic ash, which has covered the island.
The UN believe around 84,000 people – more than 80% of Tonga’s population – have been affected by the eruption.
Aid was dropped off on Thursday without military personnel coming into contact with anyone on Tonga.
The careful nature of the operation is because the South Pacific island is desperate to avoid a Covid outbreak, having reported just a single case of the virus since the pandemic began.
New Zealand is also sending two ships to the island, one carrying 250,000 litres of water, and a second carrying hydrographic equipment along with a helicopter.
Officials said their primary task would be to check shipping channels and the structural integrity of the wharf in the capital, Nuku’alofa.
Japan also said it will send emergency relief, including drinking water and equipment for cleaning away volcanic ash.
Communications with Tonga have remained limited after the single fibre-optic cable that connects the island nation with the rest of the world was severed.
Some local phone networks have stayed working, but most people have not been able to use the internet or make phone calls abroad.
One phone company, Digicel, said it had managed to restore international calls from some places by using a satellite link, but people would need to be patient due to high demand.
Re-establishing communication with Tonga has brought huge relief to Tongans abroad.
‘There’s a sigh of relief as we are able to communicate with our loved ones back home,’ said John Pulu, an Auckland based Tongan.
‘We are breathing and sleeping a little better,’ he said, adding his family in Nuku’alofa are all safe and well.
Journalist Marian Kupu said Tongans are cleaning up all of the dust but they fear they may run out of drinking water.
‘Each home has its own tanks of water supply but most of them are filled with dust so it’s not safe for drinking,’ she told Reuters.
Marian said a few villages on the western side of Tonga were very badly hit.
‘I won’t say we are expecting more deaths but as we are speaking the government is trying to fly to the other islands to check over them,’ she said.
Three of Tonga’s smaller islands have suffered serious damage from tsunami waves.
UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said: ‘All houses have apparently been destroyed on the island of Mango and only two houses remain on Fonoifua island, with extensive damage reported on Nomuka.’
According to Tongan census figures, Mango is home to 36 people, Fonoifua is home to 69 people, and Nomuka to 239.
The majority of Tongans live on the main island of Tongatapu, where about 50 homes were destroyed.
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