A month after a tsunami destroyed much of Tonga, the country is still counting its damage. There are bottlenecks in the supply of water and relief items, communication still operates at insufficient levels, part of the population has lost their source of income and the arrival of Covid-19 has led to a severe lockdown.
The scene is a consequence of the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano on January 15, located about 65 km north of the capital, Nukualofa, which triggered a 1.2 meter tsunami, according to the Australian Meteorological Office. . The eruption lasted eight minutes and was so strong that it was heard “like distant thunder” more than 500 miles away, Fiji officials said at the time.
The island of Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai virtually disappeared after the explosion, according to satellite images captured about 12 hours after the eruption, making it difficult for volcanologists to monitor ongoing activity.
There were three victims in Tonga: a 65-year-old woman in Mango, a 49-year-old man in Nomuka and a 50-year-old British woman who died trying to save her dog. The high waves of the tsunami also impacted fishing communities in Japan, the United States and Peru — where two people died.
Pita Taufatofua, a taekwondo athlete who became known at the Rio 2016 and Tokyo 2020 Olympics as “Smeared Tonga” and carried out a campaign to raise funds for the country’s recovery, tells leaf​, by message, being “an absolute miracle” the number of deaths is relatively low.
The son of the governor of the Ha’apai Islands, he was in Australia at the time of the eruption – the athlete rotates between the two countries. His family lives in regions less impacted by the tsunami and suffered only material damage. So far, his campaign has raised 833,500 Australian dollars (£3.1 million) from the 1 million target.
Taufatofua reports that the country has been recovering very slowly, with telecommunications operating at basic levels, as the submarine cable is still damaged, and affected areas, mainly the Ha’apai Islands and part of Tongatapu, are destroyed. “The other areas where the tsunami didn’t hit were just damaged by the ash, and the recent rains have slowly started to clean that up.”
The ashes have also impeded the operation of repatriation flights to and from Tonga, which are due to resume on Tuesday (15), according to the National Emergency Management Office (NEMO).
Satellite images show magnitude of tsunami impact in Tonga
The port facilities in the country’s capital, Nukualofa, on 29.Dec.21, before the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano and the tsunami, and this Tuesday, 19.Jan.22- – Maxar Technologies/Reuters
In the most impacted regions, communities still face difficulties in earning an income, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha). Fishermen like Fangupo Latu, 74, had their boats destroyed by the tsunami, as did most people in their village, the UN agency reports.
The community lived on the daily sale of fish and today, even those who managed to keep their work tools have not gone fishing due to toxicity warnings, says Latu, referring to fears related to the ash from the volcano.
To help with this, about US$354,000 from the Special Fund for Emergency and Rehabilitation Activities was allocated to Tonga through the Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations (FAO). Tonga’s National Emergency Management Committee also approved funding to support a reduction in the cost of deep-sea fishing licenses.
Ocha, however, still points to medium and long-term challenges in recovery and food security, in addition to a concern about returning to school. As cleanup efforts move forward, schools will reopen, but there is a risk that many families will not be able to pay the required fees.
Even so, the entity says that most of the emergency needs have been or are being met, although there are still some bottlenecks in the supply of water and other relief items, mainly in outlying islands and other remote areas​—Tonga is an archipelago formed by 170 islands, 36 of which are uninhabited.
Another difficulty already present in the country of Oceania is the arrival of Covid-19. According to data from Our World in Data, from February 2 to 13, Tonga counted 72 cases of Covid-19. Prior to that, the archipelago had recorded only one confirmed case, on October 29 last year. The biggest jump in the number of his infections took place in the last seven days, when coronavirus patients jumped from 7 to 73.
The arrival of Covid led to a severe lockdown, until February 20, on the main island Tongatapu, which includes the capital, and on Vava’u – other places have already lifted the measure. Under the lockdown, shops and essential services are only allowed to open on Tuesdays and Fridays from 6 am to 6 pm for people to replenish their homes.
“The people have been through a lot and now Covid is all over the islands”, says Taufatofua. “The number of infected people has grown massively, which is very sad in such a small country, and the leaders are doing the best they can despite the difficult circumstances.”
The virus samples tested in Australia confirmed the spread in the country of the omicron variant, more contagious. Despite the increase in cases, there is good immunization coverage: 60.6% of the population has a complete vaccination schedule, according to Our World in Data.
There is still, however, a larger and longer-term challenge for Tonga. The country ranks third in the WorldRiskIndex 2021 among those with the highest risk of natural disasters worldwide, behind only Vanuatu and the Solomon Islands.
With extreme weather events multiplying by five in the last 50 years, the archipelago is even more vulnerable. “I’ve seen the sea level rise over the years… it’s very sad”, reports the “greasy”. “We’re trying to raise awareness, but unfortunately a lot of the mindset around the world is, ‘We’re only going to worry about this when it happens to us.’ Well, it’s happening.”
In light of the calamity, Australia has pledged to spend US$500 million by 2025 to strengthen climate change and disaster resilience in the Pacific, with a special focus on the islands of Tonga. For Taufatofua, however, the measures adopted by world leaders have not been enough.
“It’s difficult for us to be on the front lines of impacts, even without contributing almost nothing to climate damage”, says the athlete. “Human-induced climate change is real. It has arrived and it will affect everyone.”
