One dead, widespread destruction in Tonga cyclone

Space Daily via AFP: At least one person was killed when powerful Cyclone Ian ploughed into Tonga's northern Ha'apai islands, causing extensive damage and destroying houses, reports said Sunday. The full extent of the destruction began to emerge when communications were partially restored a day after the South Pacific kingdom's first category five cyclone struck early Saturday morning.

Initial reports on Saturday said the cyclone had left minor damage. Ian was downgraded to a category four cyclone late Saturday morning, but increased in intensity later in the day and was restored to the most severe rating of category five.

By Sunday there were reports of houses destroyed and trees flattened across the island chain, which is home to about 8,000 people and is popular with tourists.
The head of the Tonga Red Cross, Sione Taumoefolau, said he had been informed of one death in Ha'apai but did not have further details.

He said staff in the region told him by satellite phone the main island of Lifuka was devastated....

US Navy aerial photo of one port in Tonga, pre-storm

Views from the Frontline finds lack of engagement with local communities in disaster risk reduction

Makereta Komai in Pina.com via PACNEWS (Fiji): Lack of engagement and co-ordination between local authorities and communities in the Pacific on disaster risk reduction, is among a number of findings from a survey conducted by the Foundation of the Peoples of the South Pacific International (FSPI). Titled, Views from the Frontline, the report gathers the views of stakeholders on the progress made by their countries on disaster risk reduction. It highlights where more action is needed and also build local level partnership to mobilise more effective action.

In the Pacific, FSPI carried out the survey in six Pacific Island Countries (Fiji, Kiribati, Solomon Islands, Tonga, Tuvalu and Vanuatu), gathering views from the frontline, targeting community and local government representatives.

 There were five main recommendations centred on lack of participation and inclusion of local communities in disaster risk reduction planning and implementation. There were strong suggestions for partnerships between local authorities, communities and the private sector to make decisions on disaster risk reduction.

FSPI Regional Disaster Office, Jiuta Korovulavula presented findings from the Pacific at one of the plenary sessions at the UN Global Platform on disaster reduction conference in Geneva this week. “The lack of community participation is the situation across all the six Pacific countries.  At the same time, the poorest in the community are the most vulnerable to impacts of disaster.

“There are a lot of consistencies across the board. It is national and local government’s responsibility to provide service delivery. However, very little seems to reaching people in the community.  It falls back on how national delivery is planned and how resources are allocated on those plans. 

“We need to take a step back and fix those operational issues because if not, when we come to the end result, there will not be much progress in terms of the inclusion of vulnerable groups and communities in processes for their own development, Korovulavula explained to PACNEWS....

Iririki Island on Vanuatu, shot by Nicky, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution 2.0 Generic license

Cyclone Rene slams into Tonga

Terra Daily via Agence France-Presse: Cyclone Rene slammed into northern Tonga early Monday after causing widespread damage in which one man in American Samoa died over the weekend. The category four cyclone -- the second strongest on a five-point scale -- was about 15 kilometres (9.3 miles) southeast of the northern island of Vava'u at 6 am local time (1700 GMT Sunday) and about 285 kilometres northeast of the capital Nuku'alofa, the Fiji Meteorological Service said.

The cyclone was estimated to have average winds of 90 knots at its centre (167 kilometres an hour) and gusts of up to 125 knots.

Vava'u resident Semisi Fonua said there were few signs of major damage as the eye of the cyclone passed over the island Monday morning. People took advantage to the temporary calm as the eye of the storm passed to check for damage. "People are out walking around now, there are a lot of mangoes and breadfruit down, and many trees damaged," Fonua said….

Tonga's coastline, shot by Tony Bowden, Wikimedia Commons via Flickr, under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 2.0 Generic license