Widowed grandmother lost home, but thankful for life [1]
Friday, February 16, 2018 - 19:50. Updated on Friday, February 16, 2018 - 19:54.
By Linny Folau and Eleanor Gee
Widow, 'Oto’ota Tapa’atoutai of Patangata is thankful to be alive with her family, and despite the cruel reality that Tropical Cyclone Gita demolished her small house on Monday February 12, she talked with a smile today as her family picked up the pieces of their life in one of the most vulnerable areas of Nuku'lofa.
'Oto’ota, now in her 60s, lost her husband at sea, and lives in the ramshackle settlement with her daughter (35) and four grandchildren.
When Cyclone Gita strengthened on Monday night at around 8:00pm, the family moved over to a neighbouring Church of Tonga home.
"We walked over with only spare clothes to change because of the rain. As we sought shelter there with the wife of the church’s clergyman and her children, as her husband was overseas, the house started to rattle as strong winds started to damage it, so we fled again to their nearby church," she said.
"Water was already inside the church and the cyclone had started to break the windows at around 10:00pm so my daughter and the clergyman’s wife went out and bolted up the window," she said.
"It was only us women and the children, because my daughter’s husband was also away in Australia fruit picking. Our youngest is a two-year-old."
'Oto'ota said she told everyone if the church building was also to get damaged they would not go outside because the category 4 cyclone was too strong.
"The only option was to hide under the chairs if the roof got torn off but luckily we didn't have to resort to this. The sound was just so loud and fierce, something I had never experienced," she said.
"When we came out the next morning; the village was devastated. Tin roofs were on the top of trees or blown out into the mangroves, some small houses flattened and trees uprooted.
“We came home to find our house flattened and the roof blown off. But I do not care about that, the most important thing is that we are here."
She was also thankful to those that have rapidly assisted with the basic necessitites they needed - Tonga Red Cross for the tents and other donations of water, mosquito repellant, cooking utensils and food from organisations and people.
"We are managing and we will eventually rebuild, but for now we are just happy to see another day!"