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Flights sent to assess Tonga damage after volcanic eruption
Updated On: 18 January, 2022 08:13 AM IST | Wellington | Agencies
New Zealand hopes to send essential supplies, including much-needed drinking water, on a military transport plane Tuesday
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An Orion aircraft of the defence force is prepared at a base in Auckland, New Zealand on Monday, before flying to assist the Tonga government after the eruption. Pic/AP
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.
Communications with Tonga remained extremely limited. The company that owns the single underwater fiber-optic 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 tsunami waves and volcanic ash fall.
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