By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission
While water and food continue to be immediate needs following Tonga’s volcanic eruption and tsunami, the trauma of the disaster is beginning to emerge.
Tongan family in ‘survival mode’ after eruption, tsunami
New Zealand-based Tongans, like husband and wife Saia and Nahutita Selupe, were among those seeing it in their families.
“You can read between the lines … they’re in survival mode at this time,” Nahutita told Breakfast.
“Our families, at this time, are quite traumatised and it’s been really hard to listen to the recounts of their experiences. One of our families has said it has been terrifying, and that’s not a word a Tongan man would use very often.
“So, that really hurts our hearts when we hear that. We’re just trying to decide how to rally up the best kind of support for them.”
Almost all homes in the Tongan village of Ha’atafu – the west coast of Nuku’alofa where Saia’s family lived – were absolutely smashed. His family’s house was destroyed and they had been forced to relocate.
It’s not the first time families like Saia’s have had to endure adversity. In 1982, when Saia was about 10 years old, Cyclone Isaac hit Tonga. It killed six people and left thousands homeless.
He said many people had been affected by trauma back then because there wasn’t much help for it.
“Cyclone Isaac destroyed everything we had in Tonga.”
Saia said his family had to move a few times because so many houses had been damaged.
“I learnt a lot from what happened in Tonga in 1982 compared to what happens now in Tonga.
“I can feel what they’re going through back on the island.”
But providing support over the phone continued to be difficult.
Nahutita said communication lines to the kingdom continued to be intermittent and rough. The underwater cable which provides nearly all of Tonga’s phone and internet service is not expected to be repaired for at least a month.
“We try and make phone calls because that’s the best form of communication at this time. We just listen, let them talk,” she said.
Nahutita said she’d been hearing from families in Tonga that the initial emergency response to provide people with food and water had been “wonderful”.
“They’re also in a phase of rebuilding, so the big clean-up and the rebuild. So, some of the needs we’ve heard from our family have been for building supplies.”
Their family members’ emotional and mental wellbeing was also high on their priority list, Nahutita said.
The New Zealand Red Cross has set up a special Pacific Tsunami Appeal to support the people of Tonga.
