Thousands of Tongans left homeless
TONGA: Tongan authorities fear thousands of families have ‘‘totally lost’’ their homes, and aimed to start distributing aid from yesterday afternoon.
The main island of Tongatapu, as well as ‘Eua – nearby to the southeast – were badly damaged by Tropical Cyclone Gita overnight Monday. On Tuesday a New Zealand air force Orion carried out an aerial surveillance.
Graham Kenna from Tonga’s National Emergency Management Office said yesterday people in low-lying areas and those closest to the coast seem to have been worst affected.
The cyclone destroyed homes, churches and even the nation’s historic Parliament House.
‘‘They have lost the houses. We’re concentrating on people who have totally lost their houses. That could be in the thousands of families,’’ Kenna said.
Emergency supplies had arrived from the New Zealand and Australian governments, and the aim was to start distributing those to the most needy. The supplies included shelter, and kitchen and hygiene kits.
On Tuesday efforts had concentrated on clearing roads and trying to get around and do assessments.
‘‘We still can’t do a total assessment of the island [Tongatapu]. Some roads are impassable, and we just don’t have enough people to do it,’’ Kenna said.
Electricity was out across Tongatapu, which also meant no power to pump water. It was hoped power would be restored to the hospital yesterday, with water possibly by today, Kenna said.
Three people are thought to have been seriously injured during the storm, while another 30 have lesser injuries.
The storm may also have contributed to the death of a 72-yearold man who had a heart attack.
Hopefully the Nuku’alofa business district could have at least some power in two or three days, Kenna said.
‘‘Tonga Power can handle the issues we have now but they’re starting to run out of hardware, such as poles and wires.’’
Communication with the island of ‘Eua was difficult, and aerial surveillance by the Orion was being used to work out the extent of the damage there.
Air Commodore Kevin McEvoy said indications from the Orion’s surveillance were that much of the infrastructure was intact.
‘‘There is some damage obviously, though most of the roads appear open and cleared of debris. There is still some surface flooding around and ... there are some basic services significantly degraded.’’
The New Zealand Defence Force would be working with the Tongan authorities to determine where help was needed. For example, looking at whether a survey of the port was needed to see if anything was submerged.
A concern in any emergency was the risk of waterborne diseases.
‘‘Really it’s a case of getting onto the ground and seeing today, and in coming days, where the main effort needs to be.’’
An air force Hercules that took
12 tonnes of emergency aid to Tonga on Tuesday also had a
10-member assessment team on board.
Fijian authorities are working to establish contact with some remote southern islands after the cyclone took down communications, though the Pacific Island nation’s most populated centres avoided serious damage. Radio Australia’s Pacific Beat programme said via Twitter that villagers on Ono-i-Lau had told it that crops and several houses had been destroyed, but there had been no reports of injuries.