Results for Tropical Cyclone Ian

Tear Fund New Zealand is urging the Tongan government to formally ask for international help following Tropical Cyclone Ian before it is too late to get assistance.

Food and water supplies worth more than $40,000 pa’anga was handed over to the Prime Minister Lord Tu’ivakano from the Chinese Ambassador to Tonga HE Mr Huang Huaguang to help the relief efforts in Ha'apai on January 15. The donation is from the Chinese Embassy in Nuku’alofa and the Tonga-Chinese Association.

Oxfam New Zealand has sent an emergency response team to Tonga on January 14 and is gearing up its aid efforts following reports of complete destruction left by Cyclone Ian to the northern islands of Ha‘apai.

The Christian World Service, the aid and development agency of New Zealand churches, has launched an appeal to support the women of Ha‘apai and Vava‘u organising clean-up operations in Tonga after the destructive Cyclone Ian on January 11.

Tonga Power Ltd. estimates that it will cost at least $3 million pa'anga to rebuild the entire power distribution network in the Ha’apai islands after Cyclone Ian destroyed over 90 percent of the power lines and poles when it hit on Saturday, January 11.

Matangi Tonga Online photographer Pesi Fonua travelled to Ha‘apai on January 13, visiting the villages of Koulo and Holopeka on LIfuka, and the main town of Pangai following the devastation of the areas by Tropical Cyclone Ian on January 11, 2014.

Kalolaine Paongo (51) of Pangai was killed when Tropical Cyclone Ian (Cat 5) hit the main island of Lifuka in Ha’apai on Saturday, January 11, and was the only death reported so far from the Cyclone Ian.

While communications are down in Tonga’s Ha'apai Islands, concerns are held by families for the well being of the communities that live on low lying outer islands, as aerial pictures continue to come in showing extensive damage to homes and villages. The organisers of the recovery effort, hampered by communications problems, are finding it hard to assess the needs priorities. Flights to Ha‘apai are expected to resume on Monday.

A crowd of around 200 New Year's visitors remain onshore at Tonga’s remote Niuatoputapu Island today, as Severe Tropical Cyclone Ian is expected to track across the ferry route between Niuatoputapu and southern Tonga, intensifying into a Category 4 storm over the next two days.