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The shutdown of telephone lines makes the task of providing relief for the volcanic island difficult.
Tonga has removed black ash from the international road, preparing for an emergency response, while a seawater connecting the affected country will take a month to repair.
UN High Commissioner for Refugees Jonathan Veitch told AFP a run-off to the Pacific island nation, which had been buried in ashes of 5 to 10 inches of volcanic ash, was resumed operations.
“It has been removed but is not in use,” he said, adding that Tonga could receive flights suspended from Thursday.
For days, Australia and New Zealand have had C-130 cargo tanks ready to go. But their departure was repeatedly delayed due to the threat of ash jets of modern jet aircraft, including melting and congestion in the engine.
The troubled Tonga government has called for a volcanic eruption of the undersea volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai reported “an unprecedented catastrophe” that reported waves up to 50 feet[15 m]high on almost every home on some remote islands.
Two New Zealand ships are due to arrive in Tonga on Friday carrying heavy water. The World Health Organization has raised concerns about air pollution and food and water pollution caused by ash and dust.
The Red Cross says its teams in Tonga have confirmed that tsunami and mountain ash are destroying the drinking water sources of thousands of people.
“Water in Tonga has been severely affected by ash and salt tsunamis from the tsunami,” said Katie Greenwood, of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
Greenwood added that there is an “increasing risk of diseases such as cholera and diarrhea”.
The United Nations and its aid agencies were also present arranging for flights to provide assistance to the Pacific island nation but without the workforce descending, to prevent the spread of the corona virus, UN High Commissioner for Refugees Jonathan Veitch has said.
Tonga is one of the few countries that does not have COVID and the epidemic could be catastrophic, he added.
Stop connecting
Tsunami waves have triggered severe damage to the three small islands of Tonga, including the seabed.
A well-known cruise ship is leaving Port Moresby for a weekend repair, according to Samiuela Fonua, co-owner of the Tonga Cable Ltd. cable owners.
But with a nine-day trip to pick up supplies in Samoa, he said it would be “lucky” to get the job done in one month.
Digicel’s global mobile operator has set up 2G connectivity via satellite dish, the New Zealand foreign ministry said, but it is limited and is about 10 percent full-time.
Tonga’s outlying areas have posted photos from families on Facebook, depicting the devastation, houses in ruins, fallen trees, torn roads and streets and everything covered in gray ash.
The disconnection of the communications system makes service delivery difficult and demonstrates the insecurity of subsea fiber-optic cables that have become the backbone of telecoms worldwide.
The $ 34m Asia Development Bank and World Bank cable was completed in 2018 and increased Tonga’s run by 30 times, but it is the only way to connect the world.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) said Tuesday that Tonga is in talks with Kacific, which has a satellite at the top of the archipelago, to access satellite internet.
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