The Hamilton Spectator

Military flights assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruption

UN exploring how to bring in relief supplies, more staff

NICK PERRY

WELLINGTON, NEW ZEALAND New Zealand and Australia were able to send military surveillance flights to Tonga on Monday to assess the damage a huge undersea volcanic eruption left in the Pacific island nation.

A towering ash cloud since Saturday’s eruption had prevented earlier flights. New Zealand hopes to send essential supplies, including much-needed drinking water, on a military transport plane Tuesday.

UN humanitarian officials and Tonga’s government “report significant infrastructural damage around Tongatapu,” the main island in the archipelago, UN spokesperson Stephane Dujarric said.

“There has been no contact from the Ha’apai Group of islands, and we are particularly concerned about two small low-lying islands — Mango and Fonoi — following surveillance flights confirming substantial property damage,” Dujarric said.

A British woman who was missing has been found dead, her family said, in the first reported fatality on Tonga. The brother of Angela Glovmi er, who ran an animal rescue centre, said the 50-year-old died after being swept away by a wave.

The UN’s Dujarric said two people were reported missing. It isn’t clear whether one of them was Glover.

Communications with Tonga remained extremely limited. The company that owns the single underwater fiberoptic cable that connects the island nation to the rest of the world said it likely was severed in the eruption and repairs could take weeks.

The loss of the cable leaves most Tongans unable to use the internet or make phone calls abroad. Those that have managed to get messages out described their country as looking like a moonscape as they began cleaning up from the tsunawaves and volcanic ash fall.

The UN World Food Program is exploring how to bring in relief supplies and more staff and has received a request to restore communication lines in Tonga, Dujarric said.

Tsunami waves of about 80 centimetres crashed into Tonga’s shoreline, and New Zealand Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern described damage to boats and shops on Tonga’s shoreline. The waves crossed the Pacific, drowning two people in Peru and causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, Calif.

Scientists said they didn’t think the eruption would have a significant impact on the Earth’s climate.

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2022-01-18T08:00:00.0000000Z

2022-01-18T08:00:00.0000000Z

https://thespec.pressreader.com/article/281711208018113

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