RNZ Pacific reporter Lydia Lewis speaks with Tonga correspondent Kalafi Moala for the first time following the violent volcanic eruption and tsunami. He has told tales of survival and explains the road to recovery.
"We are a long way from full restoration but we are on our way there," Moala said.
As the sun started to think about setting over Tonga on 15 January 2022, Moala, his wife, and their five dogs were settling in at their home on the main Island, Tongatapu.
About 6pm, they heard the first piercing bang.
Photo: RNZ Pacific
"The way it felt was if there was an earthquake that had taken place and it was like there was an explosion was happening right above you… in the ceiling of your house," Moala said.
"As we were trying to figure out what was going on, a second one happened, another crack," he said.
Publisher and commentator, Kalafi Moala Photo: supplied
"And then it shook the house and I was afraid that the windows and the glass doors was going to crack, and then of course the third explosion took place and then we knew that there was something happening and then we realised it was probably the volcanic eruption."
His home is fairly close to the waterfront, and that was a scary thought considering the eruption was "around 60km" away on open water directly facing Nuku'alofa.
It was heard as far away as Fiji, New Zealand and even Alaska.
Photo:
"As you can imagine, here we are in Tonga in the islands, facing directly [at] the volcano, the impact was really huge, and following that the ashes that came down and then of course from our neighbours and everybody saying we've got to evacuate," he said.
"There was a notice from government sources that said we've got to get out of waterfront areas. So we just basically just got in our cars and closed the doors to our houses and left for higher ground."
This is the first time RNZ Pacific has been able to reach our correspondent in over a month. He is a respected news editor in Tonga and has been in the industry for more than 30 years.
This is the first disaster in his living memory of this magnitude where both internet and phone lines were wiped out.
In the first hour following the three blasts, Moala heard, he had to seek refuge, "the waves were coming in strong in the waterfront area".
As the sun set, a large ash cloud blanketed the Tonga islands, said Tonga Meteorological and Coast Radio Services director 'Ofa Fa'anunu.
The clean-up: 'All we could see were rocks'
There are still remnants of damage over a month on. Speaking to RNZ Pacific from the water front of Nuku'alofa after weeks of silence, Moala described the scenes "all we could see were rocks, and waterfront areas that were torn up and of course damaged houses."
Photo: Consulate of the Kingdom of Tonga
People have been cleaning their homes and the streets. "Two weeks following the disaster heavy rain arrived," Moala said, adding it provided some relief washing away a lot of the ash.
The global community has sprung into action, donation drives have been taking place everywhere.
"The gifts and donations of food … in countries overseas, this has created a massive distribution task in Tonga where families are being given packages, that is going on right now," Moala said.
"We wouldn't be able to survive without that help and assistance," he said.
Trauma and healing: 'They still live in fear'
This handout photo taken on January 16, 2022 courtesy of Rev. Kisini Toetu'u via Matangi Tonga shows survivors praying on a hilltop at dawn on Mango Island. Photo: AFP PHOTO / Courtesy of Rev. Kisini Toetu'u via Matangi Tonga" -
"There is just one story after another of people who have suffered," Moala said.
Tonga is a resilient kingdom having been through many challenges before, "this is not the first time where there has been a disaster where people lost houses, lost properties", he said.
But, this may have been the most serious event that has ever happened, "where whole villages have been wiped out," he said.
A view over an area of Tonga that shows the heavy ash fall from the recent volcanic eruption within the Tongan Islands. Photo: Supplied / NZ Defence Force
The biggest concern Moala has after speaking with survivors is "how much these people need help, emotionally, mentally… they need to be healed and restored," he said.
"When they hear a loud noise, the starting of an engine and a pop they would jump. They still live in fear. Some of them would just sit there and stare at the wall."
He said he lives close to an area where Mango Island evacuees have been housed.
"I see families with their children, they come in here, they don't talk to anyone they just sit and stare into the open air," Moala said.
"One person said it is 'like coming from a foreign country, coming to Nuku'alofa, we don't know anyone here, we have lost everything but we are just so glad we are alive'.
"The one thing that has been comforting in this time is that we have not been forgotten."
Communication: 'It helps to bring healing'
"The internet connection with overseas has been fixed and we are back to normal now but the internet connection between the islands is still unstable," Moala said.
There were two cables, the international one called the Southern Cross Cable and the Domestic Cable, both were cut off.
While the international cable has been repaired, the domestic one is out of use.
One thing the disaster has highlighted is that Tonga has been "relying" on this one cable to connect to the world.
"It just shows you how much this little population of ours was so dependent on internet and phone communication to continue to maintain the relationship with their families overseas," Moala said.
"You can imagine how important it is because you've got many families in Tonga where the father and mother [are] living in Tonga."
Elon Musk's donation of 50 VSA terminals created options for local connections, Moala said.
"This will be used now to set up connections with Ha'apai and Vava'u and the islands of Tonga," he said.
There are two major communication organisations, Tonga Communications Corporation, owned by the government and a private organisation owned by Digicel.
"To able to talk to your relatives overseas is something so huge, it helps to bring healing to an aspect that when a disaster happens people don't realise the psychological, the emotional, the mental impact on the people," Moala said.
"People look at the damages and the houses but often in a small population like ours the restoration of communication allows a very significant degree of healing and the restoration of peace and happiness to be able to have their voice heard again."
Hopes Tonga may go to 'green' in Covid-19 traffic light setting
Tonga plunged into lockdown after surviving a volcanic eruption and tsunami, many people were without a home to self isolate in.
"In a week, there were two days where we could do shopping and put petrol in our vehicles," Moala said.
The restrictions were tough, they were based on the New Zealand's 'traffic light' system but with, "no trade whatsoever taking place except the bare necessities you can get," he said.
There has been progress on the vaccination front, with 99 percent of those eligible having had their first dose, 91 percent for the second dose, and 26 percent boosted as of Wednesday (NZT).
"Very good mood, very positive, it gives us hope that maybe if we continue in this way, we may go to green," Moala said.
"We've got to accept the fact that we've got to live with the virus. It's not something that is going to come and go."