Amid the blackout of official information in Tonga about the impacts of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which took place over the weekend – which led to the downfall of internet and telephone lines in the country -, confirmation came from the United Kingdom. of what would be the first death caused by the tsunami in the Pacific Ocean archipelago.
A 50-year-old British woman who lived in Tonga and was missing had her body found on Monday (17), according to information given by her brother in Hove, in southern England. Nick Eleini told Reuters that the most likely hypothesis is that Angela Glover was swept away by the waves while trying to save her dogs – she worked with the rescue of abandoned animals.
This Sunday (16), the Peruvian press had already confirmed the death of two people drowned in the region of Lambayeque, in the north of the country, after the record of exceptionally high waves. The abnormal movement on the coast was due to the eruption in the Pacific.
According to Eleini, Angela had left London, where she worked as a publicist, and moved to Tonga in 2015, when she married James Glover. He had a tattoo parlor and she was the founder of an animal welfare organization. “She loved people and she loved animals, from a young age – the uglier the dog, the more she liked him,” her brother said, according to the BBC network. “She was living her dream, she always wanted to live in a place like Tonga.”
The British press reported that Angela had been taken by the tsunami when she was trying to help the dogs she was caring for. The husband managed to hold on to a tree and save himself — it is unclear what happened to the animals. It was James who found the woman’s body, according to the family.
There are still no reports of other victims in Tonga.
The undersea volcano erupted on Saturday afternoon (15), at local time (dawn in BrasÃlia), and triggered tsunamis in Tonga, Japan and American Samoa. According to Fiji officials, the eight-minute eruption was heard “like distant thunder” more than 800 km away.
Meters recorded waves 83 centimeters high in Nukualofa, the Tongan capital, and approximately 60 centimeters in Pago Pago, American Samoa, according to the Pacific Tsunami Warning Center.
According to New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern, the main submarine communication cable with the archipelago was impacted due to the power outage, which is being restored in parts of the islands.
On Monday, already Tuesday in local time, New Zealand reported that there was damage along the west coast of the main island, Tongatapu, where the capital, Nuku’alofa, and the main resorts of the country are located.
A thick layer of ash covered the entire island, New Zealand said, adding that it was working to establish communications with smaller islands.
The United Nations said that a distress signal had been detected in the Ha’apai Islands, and that there were concerns especially with Fonoi and Mango Islands. According to the government of Tonga, 36 people live in Mango and 69 in Fonoi.
A satellite image published by the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs indicated that there had been damage to dozens of structures on the island of Nomuka. “More volcanic activity cannot be ruled out,” it said.
The Ha’atafu Beach Resort on the Hihipo Peninsula, 21 km west of the capital Nuku’alofa, was “completely destroyed”, the owners said on Facebook.
The island of Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai all but disappeared after the explosion, according to satellite images from about 12 hours after the eruption, making it difficult for volcanologists to monitor ongoing activity.
The Red Cross said it was mobilizing its network to respond to what it called the worst volcanic eruption the Pacific has experienced in decades. Alexander Matheou, director of the Red Cross in the region, said priorities are to purify water to remove ash contamination, provide shelter and reunite separated family members.
Tonga’s deputy chief of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu’ihalangingie, said Tonga was concerned about the risk of humanitarian aid spreading Covid-19 on the island, which has not recorded any cases of the disease.
Any aid sent to Tonga would need to be quarantined and likely no foreign personnel would be allowed to disembark from aircraft, he said.
Australia sent a surveillance aircraft to the country to assess damage to infrastructure such as roads, ports and power lines and define the response strategy.
The BBC reported that journalists expect it to take two weeks for communication to fully resume in Tonga. According to the Red Cross, at least 80,000 people may have been affected by the tsunami. “From the information we’ve gathered, however, the event was not as catastrophic as we thought in the more populous centers,” said Katie Greenwood, the organization’s coordinator in Fiji.
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