Tonga eruption: First aid flights take off from Australia, New Zealand

Australia and New Zealand officials announced on Thursday that first aid flights wereon their way to Tonga.

The flights follow the Saturday eruption of the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano. The eruption dispersed a thick layer of ash across the island and caused a tsunami that was felt across the Pacific.

The underwater cable providing internet and telecoms connectivity was severed in the disaster. It may take weeks for the cable to be repaired. At first, satellite phones were the only means of communication. However, the owner of the island’s cable said that phone links were being restored late on Wednesday, albeit adding that reconnecting to the internet could still take weeks.

What aircraft has departed for Tonga?

Officials in Australia and New Zealand said that two military transporters should arrive within hours at Tonga’s airport, after the airport’s runway had been cleared of ash, making it safe to land.

“A C17 Globemaster left from Amberley Airport Base around 7 a.m. today (Wednesday, 2000 GMT/UTC),” an Australian defense official told AFP.  A second Australian aid flight was set to depart later on Thursday.

The flights will carry humanitarian supplies and telecommunications equipment.

The Australian High Commission in Tonga said that Australia had provided 1 million Australian dollars to the recovery effort. 

New Zealand’s foreign Minister Nanaia Mahuta said that a C-130 Hercules aircraft carrying aid supplies had departed for Tonga from Auckland and would land at about 4pm New Zealand time (0300 GMT).

“The aircraft is carrying humanitarian aid and disaster relief supplies, including water containers, kits for temporary shelters, generators, hygiene and family kits, and communications equipment,” Mahuta said in a statement.

The delivery of supplies will be contactless, Mahuta said. Tonga is COVID-19 free and is worried that the virus could spread to the island along with aid deliveries.

Vaccine access is already widespread but not universal in Tonga. 

The Australian military relief ship the HMAS Adelaide is also standing by in Brisbane and is expected to depart for Tonga on Friday.

The ship will carry “water purification equipment and additional humanitarian supplies,” Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison said.

Tonga’s EU consulate released new pictures of the damage on Wednesday

Japan said on Thursday it would send aid including drinking water and equipment for cleaning volcanic ash. The aid will be sent through the Japan International Cooperation Agency.

Red Cross makes contact with local team after days in dark

Katie Greenwood, Pacific head of the International Federation of the Red Cross and Red Crescent Society, told DW that “there’s mixed news coming out of Tonga.”

“It is very good news we have been able to finally make contact with our team,” Greenwood said. She added that they hadn’t been in contact since Saturday when the eruption took place.

“There’s also some sad news […] that has come out of some reconnaissance trips that have gone out to some of those smaller, low-lying atolls,” Greenwood told DW.

Greenwood said that the reconnaissance trips had found that “most of the structures on those islands have been completely wiped out and destroyed.”

“The death toll did rise slightly yesterday as well,” to three, she added. 

Local journalist Marian Kupu told Reuters that Tongans feared they may run out of drinking water.

“Each home has their own tanks of water supply but most of them are filled with dust so it’s not safe for drinking,” Kupu said.

The United Nations said that about 84,000 people, or more than 80% of Tonga’s population, had been badly affected by the disaster.

“They have been affected through loss of houses, loss of communication, what we understand is the issue with the water,” UN spokesman Stephane Dujarric told reporters.

sdi/msh (AFP, Reuters)

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  ‘Unprecedented disaster’

  Tonga officials confirmed that at least three people died after a massive undersea volcanic eruption and tsunami hit the Pacific nation — what the government called an “unprecedented disaster.” With the country’s only internet cable cut, it remains difficult to understand the extent of the damage through patchy satellite phone connections, surveillance flights and satellite images.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  Smothered in grey dust

  Volcanic ash has blanketed Tonga, as seen in this before-and-after image. World Health Organization official Sean Casey said that “the whole country is covered in ash,” adding that water contamination is currently the biggest threat to the population. The UN health agency said around 100 houses had been damaged, with 50 destroyed on Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  The volcanic eruption

  The Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai underwater volcano had erupted on Saturday, sending ash some 30 kilometers (19 miles) into the air. It deposited ash, gas and acid rain across a large area of the Pacific. A tsunami followed the volcano, raising waves in Tonga up to 15 meters (50 feet), its government said.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  Sending help

  As communication from Tonga remained severed, New Zealand sent surveillance flights to survey the damage. Several international organizations, including the UN and Red Cross, are trying to send aid, but Tonga’s airport remains closed. Australia and New Zealand said they would send ships with aid — which could take days due to the massive distance.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  Impacts across Pacific: Oil spill in Peru

  Large waves from the volcanic eruption are believed to have caused an oil spill in an area rich in marine biodiversity in Peru. Peruvian authorities said that a ship was loading oil into a refinery on the Pacific coast on Sunday when strong waves moved the boat and caused the spill. So far, it is the only known oil spill to have have occurred in the Pacific basin after Saturday’s eruption.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  Impacts across Pacific: Tsunami waves reach Japan

  Tsunami waves caused by the eruption spread across the Pacific Ocean and hit Japan’s coastline. Rafts of farmed oysters in Japan’s eastern Mie Prefecture were carried out to sea by the waves.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  Impacts across Pacific: Boats damaged in New Zealand

  The impact was felt in New Zealand as well. Waves that swept into marinas severely damaged boats, while others in New Zealand said they could hear the eruption.

• Tonga devastated by volcanic eruption, tsunami — in pictures

  Previous eruption in 2015

  An eruption in 2015, pictured above, caused the formation of a volcanic cone between the islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai. The eruption released dense, particle-rich jets.

  Author: Saim Dušan Inayatullah, Farah Bahgat

Article source: https://www.dw.com/en/tonga-eruption-first-aid-flights-take-off-from-australia-new-zealand/a-60489179?maca=en-rss-en-all-1573-rdf