Tonga Volcano: New Zealand Defense Force ready to help but no direct contact with Tonga government yet

The Defense Forces are ready to send aid to Tonga as early as Monday morning, but no direct contact has yet been established with the Tonga government, Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said.

At a press conference on Sunday, Ardern said the government could deploy within eight hours, but needed to work out what supplies were needed and what the situation was on the ground.

A tsunami has hit Tonga, after a massive eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific island nation on Saturday caused extensive damage and cut off communications with the island nation.

Ardern said Covid-19 safety was important and all New Zealand Defense Force personnel were fully vaccinated and would follow all protocols set out by the Tonga government.

The New Zealand government is in contact with its High Commission in Tonga and is always trying to find out as much as possible about what is happening on the ground. No deaths have been reported, Ardern said.

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Initial reports revealed the most damage on Tongatapu – Tonga’s main island, north of Nuku’alofa – with boats and large rocks washed up on the shore.

No information was yet known about the outer islands and coastal areas, Ardern said.

There was growing concern among the Tongan community in New Zealand about the 8,000 people living on the Ha’apai group of islands in Tonga, closest to the eruption.

Communication remains very limited, Ardern said. The main undersea communications cable was hit, possibly due to a power outage.

She said New Zealand would provide assistance to repair the cable if needed.

There were reports that ash had stopped falling on Tongatapu, but Ardern said they could not rule out further volcanic activity.

Ardern said an NZDF P3 Orion aircraft was ready for a surveillance flight over Tonga on Monday morning, subject to conditions including ashfall.

Along with flying the plane, New Zealand was considering deploying a navy ship, Ardern said.

The government was waiting to determine which vessel would be most suitable, with the Manawanui fitted with underwater monitoring equipment and the Canterbury with desalination equipment on board.

“At this time, the government is waiting to hear from the Tongan authorities on what was needed.”

Logistics teams, engineers and doctors would likely be included in any deployment, Defense Forces Minister Peeni Henare said, and meteorologists and geologists could also be sent.

Ardern said it was clear clean water was needed in Tonga as the ash cloud had caused water catchments to become contaminated.

New Zealand has made available an initial $500,000 to meet requests from the Tonga government, with Ardern saying this was really a starting point.