WELLINGTON: Tonga removed a thick coat of ash from an international runway on Wednesday after days of painstaking effort, clearing the way for desperately needed emergency aid to arrive in the isolated and disaster-stricken nation.
The overwhelmed Tongan government has called the dual eruption-tsunami"an unprecedented disaster" and reported that waves as high as 15m destroyed almost every home on some outlying islands. "Water supplies across Tonga have been severely impacted by ashfall and saltwater from the tsunami," said Katie Greenwood of the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.For days, Australia and New Zealand have had military transport C-130 aircraft laden with supplies ready to go, but their departure had been repeatedly delayed.Ash particles pose a threat to modern jet aircraft, including by melting and accumulating in the engines.
China also said it would send emergency supplies such as drinking water, food and disaster relief equipment. "US cable company SubCom advises it will take at least four weeks for Tonga's cable connection to be repaired," New Zealand's foreign ministry said Wednesday. Neighbouring countries have relied on surveillance flights and satellite images to assess the scale of the disaster.
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