NZ poised to help Tonga

New Zealand is poised to send help to Tonga this morning, once officials have a clearer picture of the devastation from Saturday’s tsunami, which sent walls of water crashing through homes and ash raining down onto the streets.

But with a near communications blackout, New Zealand officials had been unable to make direct contact with the Tongan government following the violent eruptions from submarine volcano Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai.

On New Zealand shores, tsunami surges combined with tropical Cyclone Cody caused millions of dollars in damage at a Far North marina, while others reported hearing sonic booms as the shock waves rippled some 2000 kilometres across the sea.

The threat for beach and marine areas was believed to have passed by last night, with the National Emergency Management Agency (Nema) lifting a warning for people to stay off beaches.

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said the New Zealand Government was ready to deploy aid to Tonga within eight hours, but needed to establish what supplies were needed, and what the situation was like on the ground.

‘‘I’ve been in touch with Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison today and New Zealand and Australia stand ready to assist our Pacific neighbours,’’ Ardern said at a media conference in Auckland yesterday.

A Defence Force P3 Orion is on standby to provide aerial surveillance and support the Tongan government to assess the tsunami’s impact on the outer islands as soon as atmospheric conditions allow.

‘‘We have the aircraft ready to deploy and are looking at the deployment of a Navy vessel should it be required,’’ she said.

No loss of life had been confirmed last night, but there were growing concerns for at least 8000 people in the Ha’apai group of islands in Tonga as phone and internet communications were still down.

The eruption saw the Tonga cable, which connects Tonga to the trans-Pacific cable, knocked out of action.

The Southern Cross Cable Network has said the 872-kilometre fibre-optic communications cable may have been broken, potentially severing Tonga’s connection to the outside world.

This could limit communications to and from Tonga for days or weeks, depending on whether any cut was on land or at sea.

Pakilau Manase Lua, who is part of the Tonga Auckland group, said locals in Tonga feared what would happen if the volcano erupted again, and were worried they would face more tsunamis.

‘‘We haven’t heard of lives lost, there have been damages to property and things like that.

‘‘Water shortage is a concern going forward because of contamination to the water catchments.

‘‘[Yesterday] morning ash was still falling, a huge blanket over the whole island.’’

Ardern said it was clear that clean drinking water was a need for Tonga, as the ash cloud had caused contamination of water catchments.

Initial reports revealed the most damage on Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga – at the northern side of Nuku’alofa with boats and large boulders washed ashore.

New Zealand has already made an initial $500,000 available to respond to requests from the Tongan government when they come in.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Defence Force, and other New Zealand agencies were working through air and sea options to provide assistance to Tonga.

Ardern said her Government was in contact with its High Commission in Tonga, and was still urgently trying to find out as much as it could about what was happening on the ground.