The most powerful cyclone ever to slam into the South Pacific tourist destination of Tonga has destroyed villages, flattened trees and left at least one person dead, Tongan officials said yesterday.
Up to 70 percent of houses and buildings in the central Ha’apai islands group, which is home to about 8,000 people and bore the brunt of Cyclone Ian, were damaged or destroyed.
The Tongan government declared a state of emergency in the Ha’apai region after it was pounded by winds in excess of 105 knots (200kph) which whipped up mountainous seas around coastal villages. Although initial reports when the cyclone hit on Saturday said there had only been minor damage, the full extent of the destruction began to emerge when communications were partially restored yesterday.
“Seventy percent of houses [on Ha’apai] are damaged or blown away, and the rest of the 30 percent are affected by water,” Tongan military commander Satisi Vunipola told reporters.
Residents on Ha’apai’s main island of Lifuka were reported to have huddled in churches for shelter as houses were destroyed in the furious cyclone.
Ian Wilson, a New Zealand emergency management official, said Lifuka was in the direct path of the cyclone.
“Whatever was on the island has been damaged, whether it’s buildings, crops, roading or infrastructure, it’s all been damaged,” Wilson said, warning that it remained difficult to get a detailed picture of the destruction.
“There is no communication. We did have a satellite phone but that also died. It is serious. The eye of the storm went right across the top of the island,” Wilson added.
Ian was downgraded to a category four cyclone on Saturday morning, but increased in intensity later in the day to be restored to the most severe rating of category five as it hit Ha’apai, knocking out contact with outlying islands.
Ian is the first category five cyclone to belt into Tonga, and Ha’apai Governor Tu’i Ha’angana said he could see from one side of the island to the other — “that’s how devastated it is.”
The head of the Tongan Red Cross, Sione Taumoefolau, said he had been informed of one death in Ha’apai, but did not have further details as communication remained sketchy.
He said staff in the region told him by satellite phone that Lifuka was devastated.
The Red Cross established a policy last year of maintaining containers of relief supplies on most islands, and Taumoefolau said they were able to provide immediate assistance. Tupou Ahomee Faupula, from Tongan mobile phone provider Digicel, said his field officer in Ha’apai reported widespread devastation.
“He told us that this was the worst ever damage from a cyclone. Most houses are flattened, roofs are off, trees and power lines are down,” Faupula said.
The Tongan navy has sent two patrol boats to Ha’apai, and the Matangi Tonga news Web site reported the government was considering a request for overseas aid.
New Zealand offered immediate assistance of NZ$50,000 (US$41,500) and an air force Orion was sent yesterday to begin an immediate aerial surveillance of the devastated areas.
The flight was not expected to return to the capital Nuku’alofa until late at night.
“Our thoughts are with the people of Tonga as they begin to come to terms with the damage caused by this cyclone,” New Zealand Foreign Minister Murray McCully said.
“Further support will be considered as the full extent of the damage becomes clear and the government of Tonga determines its priority response areas,” McCully added.
The Fua’amotu Tropical Cyclone Warning Centre downgraded Ian again to category four yesterday, with wind gusts of up to 140 knots (259 kph).
The storm was expected to continue weakening as it moved south over open waters, away from the island nation, meteorologists said.
Nearly half of China’s major cities are suffering “moderate to severe” levels of subsidence, putting millions of people at risk of flooding, especially as sea levels rise, according to a study of nationwide satellite data released yesterday. The authors of the paper, published by the journal Science, found that 45 percent of China’s urban land was sinking faster than 3mm per year, with 16 percent at more than 10mm per year, driven not only by declining water tables, but also the sheer weight of the built environment. With China’s urban population already in excess of 900 million people, “even a small portion
‘IN A DIFFERENT PLACE’: The envoy first visited Shanghai, where he attended a Chinese basketball playoff match, and is to meet top officials in Beijing tomorrow US Secretary of State Antony Blinken yesterday arrived in China on his second visit in a year as the US ramps up pressure on its rival over its support for Russia while also seeking to manage tensions with Beijing. The US diplomat tomorrow is to meet China’s top brass in Beijing, where he is also expected to plead for restraint as Taiwan inaugurates president-elect William Lai (賴清德), and to raise US concerns on Chinese trade practices. However, Blinken is also seeking to stabilize ties, with tensions between the world’s two largest economies easing since his previous visit in June last year. At the
UNSETTLING IMAGES: The scene took place in front of TV crews covering the Trump trial, with a CNN anchor calling it an ‘emotional and unbelievably disturbing moment’ A man who doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire outside the courthouse where former US president Donald Trump is on trial has died, police said yesterday. The New York City Police Department (NYPD) said the man was declared dead by staff at an area hospital. The man was in Collect Pond Park at about 1:30pm on Friday when he took out pamphlets espousing conspiracy theories, tossed them around, then doused himself in an accelerant and set himself on fire, officials and witnesses said. A large number of police officers were nearby when it happened. Some officers and bystanders rushed
Beijing is continuing to commit genocide and crimes against humanity against Uyghurs and other Muslim minorities in its western Xinjiang province, U.S. Secretary of State Antony Blinken said in a report published on Monday, ahead of his planned visit to China this week. The State Department’s annual human rights report, which documents abuses recorded all over the world during the previous calendar year, repeated language from previous years on the treatment of Muslims in Xinjiang, but the publication raises the issue ahead of delicate talks, including on the war in Ukraine and global trade, between the top U.S. diplomat and Chinese