Tonga makes contact with world five days after Tsunami

TONGA: Tongans could finally make phone contact with their families and the outside world on Thursday five days after a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami completely cut off the Pacific island nation.

The explosion of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which has killed at least three people and sent tsunami waves across the Pacific, knocked out communications of about 105,000 people on Saturday.

Telephone links between Tonga and the wider world began to be reconnected late on Wednesday, though restoring full internet connectivity is likely to take a month or more according to the owner of the archipelago’s sole subsea communications cable.

Speaking to Reuters from Nuku’alofa, local journalist Marian Kupu said Tongans were in the process of cleaning up all the dust but 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 its not safe for drinking,” Ms Kupu said. The United Nations said that about 84,000 people – that is more than 80% of the population – has been badly affected by the disaster.

New Zealand said Tonga, one of the few countries to be free of the new coronavirus, had agreed to receive two of its ships carrying aid and supply, despite concerns about importing a COVID-19 outbreak that would make matters worse.

Vaccination against the virus is as high as 90% among Tongans.

– FRANCE 24