The Tonga Islands were facing an immense shortage of drinking water on Friday, nearly a week after the eruption of the volcano in the archipelago, the effect of which has been compared to the explosion of an “atomic bomb” by a rescue officer.
On Tongatapu, the main island of Tonga, “we felt a big … it was like an atomic bomb”, testified by telephone to AFP Sione Taumoefolau, secretary general of the Tonga Red Cross.
“The whole island shook with the din [causé] by the eruption.
On January 15, the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano, which caused a tsunami, cut off this small Pacific nation from the rest of the planet after the communications cable linking the archipelago to the Internet network broke.
The situation remains difficult, due to the lack of humanitarian aid and the titanic operation of clearing the ashes which the inhabitants must now tackle.
“The worst thing for us is the ashes. Everything is covered by the ashes of the volcano,” said Mr. Taumoefolau.
Jonathan Veitch, in charge of coordinating operations for the United Nations from Fiji, estimated that the main problem for Tongans is drinking water.
The water supplies of tens of thousands of people could be contaminated by ash from the volcano or salt water from the ensuing tsunami.
“Before the eruption, a majority of them depended on rainwater,” Veitch told AFP.
“Triple whammy? »
“If the ashes made it all toxic, that’s a problem, unless they can access underground sources. For him, it “is now vital to be able to determine their location”.
Water testing has begun, but after last Saturday’s eruption “the whole country is covered in ash”, Mr Veitch said.
Rescue operations began in earnest on Thursday after the archipelago’s main airstrip was finally cleared of the thick layer of ash that covered it.
Australian and New Zealand military planes carrying emergency aid were able to land.
But the distance, the difficulties of communication and the measures put in place to prevent the COVID-19 from affecting this kingdom of 170 islands, hitherto spared, complicate the relief operations.
” It is not easy. It’s far from everything, as you know. There are therefore access constraints. And then there is the problem of COVID, of course, as well as the lack of means of communication,” acknowledged the UN coordinator.
“I would say it’s almost a triple whammy.”
As foreign aid arrivals surge, UN ‘worried’ about Covid-related risks, Veitch said, referring to Omicron variant currently spreading in several Pacific archipelagos, including islands Solomon and Kiribati.
The government is currently looking for a way to bring aid workers into the country without taking the risk that they will contaminate the population.
“Many destructions”
The Government of the Tonga Islands has completed the assessment of the extent of the damage, especially on the islands which were affected by the tsunami caused by the eruption.
Three people were killed but the financial extent of the material damage remains to be established.
“There is nothing to suggest that the human toll is heavier, but the destruction [matérielles] are many,” says Veitch.
Many people living on remote islands whose homes were destroyed were evacuated to the large island of Nomuka.
The New Zealand Ship HMNZS Aotearoa docked in Tonga on Friday, carrying large supplies of drinking water.
” [Il] also has the capacity to desalinate 70-75,000 liters of water per day which will make a difference to the people, at least on Tongatapu,” Veitch said.
Unicef has sent a large number of water and sanitation kits on board the Australian aid ship HMAS Adelaide, who left Brisbane on Thursday evening.
“We also send a lot of equipment to treat water,” Veitch said.
The volcanic eruption was heard as far away as Alaska more than 9,000 km away. A mushroom of smoke 30 km high dispersed ash, gas and acid rain on Tonga’s 170 islands.
This eruption caused a huge pressure wave that swept across the planet, traveling at a speed of 1,231 km/h, according to New Zealand’s National Institute for Water and Atmospheric Research.