Tongans isolated by effects of eruption
Tonga remains cut off following the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai volcanic eruption, with a New Zealand Defence Force flight carrying crucial aid made impossible due to ash and debris on the runway.
The Defence Force had planned to deliver fresh water to the islands, with a Hercules C-130 set to take off last night.
An earlier surveillance flight left Auckland for the islands yesterday to assess the damage.
The crew flew over the Ha’apai islands, and then over Tongatapu to check the status of the runway and port. The volcano, about 30 kilometres southeast of Fonuafo’ou island, erupted about 5.30pm on Saturday evening.
It lasted eight minutes and rained ash and pumice down on nearby islands and caused a tsunami at least 1.2 metres high, affecting an estimated 8000 inhabitants.
Rear Admiral James Gilmour, Commander Joint Forces New Zealand, yesterday said he had received reports the ash clearance from the runway was proceeding slowly and might not be complete until yesterday afternoon at the earliest. ‘‘It is going to be a real challenge to clear that off,’’ Gilmour said.
A Royal New Zealand Navy supply ship, the HMNZS Aotearoa, was to set sail from Devonport yesterday afternoon, despite there having been no official request from Tonga for its assistance, carrying urgent supplies and ‘‘reverse osmosis’’ plants able to produce freshwater from seawater.
Gilmour said it was better for the ship to be 300 nautical miles north when the request came in than still docked in Auckland.
He said the military would be able to sustain a deployment to Tonga for a short time despite more than 1000 personnel being tied up with New Zealand’s Covid-19 response, mostly on managed isolation and quarantine duties.
Tonga requires visitors to isolate for weeks on arrival and there was no indication that had changed, Gilmour said.
Family and friends in New Zealand have faced an anxious wait for news of their loved ones, especially in the outer islands where communication has been non-existent. About 8000 people live on Ha’apai.
Communication with the region has been severely limited, as the fibre-optic underwater cable connecting Tonga to Fiji is believed to have broken.
Former Tonga rugby captain Inoke Afeaki lives in Wellington but has a father who lives in Ha’apai, a group of islands in central Tonga.
Afeaki had not heard from his father since the eruption, saying yesterday that most feedback had been channelled through Facebook.
The fact there were no deaths was ‘‘miraculous’’, he said. But
Afeaki was concerned there could be aftershocks in the coming days.
‘‘If it had been a 5-metre or 10-metre tsunami, we were looking at a lot of deaths,’’ he said.
‘‘My worry is this is similar to the Christchurch earthquakes.
‘‘It is a busy little volcano trying to build land, and it is still rumbling and producing.’’
He also had concerns about drinking water contamination and the welfare of livestock on Tonga, including that of his father’s.
‘‘We have been waiting for this. We are super lucky, because it could have been much worse. It is a huge reminder.’’
Tearfund’s chief executive, Ian McInnes, said the aid agency would appeal for donations from Kiwi communities, and they would ‘‘highly likely to work on livelihood, crops and food safety for Tongan residents’’.
About 70,000 Tongans are living in New Zealand, with 70 per cent based in Auckland. Tonga community leaders and church leaders gathered yesterday and set up Aotearoa Tonga Relief Committee.
Other countries were also coming to Tonga’s aid. An Australian Air Force P8 Poseidon aircraft flew to Tonga yesterday, according to AAP.
HMAS Adelaide is being deployed from Sydney to Brisbane where it will be loaded with supplies for Tonga.
The BBC reported British Foreign Office Minister Zac Goldsmith saying the British Government was ‘‘ready to help and support our Commonwealth friend and partner in any way we can’’.
Chinese Foreign Ministry spokesperson Wang Wenbin told the Global Times the Asian nation was prepared to provide assistance if requested by Tonga.
Meanwhile, Air New Zealand has postponed its January 20 repatriation flight to Tonga as a result of the eruption.
Chief operational integrity and safety officer Captain David Morgan said the airline would contact customers booked to travel on the Thursday, January 20, service directly.