Fears for Tonga as huge waves hit

And report.

There were grave fears for residents of Tonga last night as huge waves hit the island nation following volcanic eruptions. As sunlight gave way to dark Tongans were fleeing for higher ground, relatives in New Zealand were desperately trying to reach loved ones and stories of heroism began to emerge.

Torika Tokalau, Skara Bohny, Hannah Martin, Stephanie Ockhuysen

LAVINIA Taumoepeau-Latu was on the phone with her husband Evona Latu when the phone went dead.

‘‘The area he was at I would imagine was just the dark clouds and stones,’’ the former Ministry of Internal Affairs staffer, now based in the United States, said last night.

Taumoepeau-Latu was one of many trying to reach loved ones in Tonga after massive waves swamped the island nation early Saturday evening. Official communications were scant and attempts to reach people on the island were thwarted by poor telecommunications.

Waves struck about 6pm yesterday, NZ time, and followed several eruptions of HungaTonga-Hunga-Ha’apai, located about 30 kilometres southeast of Fonuafo’ou island, the last before the waves hit detected at 5.30pm. Eruptions had been noted in the preceding day and earlier in December, but the final eruption, which sent ash, steam and gas 20 kilometres into the air and captured in shocking satellite imagery, could be felt as far afield as Fiji, where residents there reported shaking, and booming.

Taumoepeau-Latu was speaking to Evona as it went dark – and he reported it was raining small stones. He told her people were trying to evacuate to higher ground, but as there was only one main road from the town, messages on the radio were telling people from central and eastern areas to stay put to allow others to evacuate. Social media footage showed people fleeing in the dark.

There were other grim reports. A person at the New Zealand High Commission who asked to remain anonymous said the estate was ‘‘filled with people, and they’re running out of food to feed them’’. They said [the areas of] ‘‘Sopu, Popua, Fangaloto, Patangata are underwater’’ and it was ‘‘scary dark everywhere’’.

‘‘One boy who just arrived soaking wet said he ran out of his friends home not knowing what happened to his family,’’ the witness said. ‘‘He’s not sure if they made it out of their home as they don’t have a car to leave in.’’

Mere Taufa was inside her

home at Nukualofa with her family, getting ready for dinner, when they heard and felt the eruption.

‘‘It was massive, the ground shook, our house was shaking. It came in waves, my younger brother thought bombs were exploding nearby,’’ Taufa said.

‘‘My first instinct was to take cover under the table, I grabbed my little sister, and screamed at my parents and others in the house to do the same.’’

The next thing they knew water had filled their home. ‘‘We just knew straight away it was a tsunami.’’

She saw the walls of one of her neighbours’ home collapse.

‘‘You could just hear screams everywhere, people screaming for safety, for everyone to get to higher grounds.’’

There were also tales of heroism. Tevita Sailosi carried his elderly grandmother to the roof of their Nukualofa home as water swarmed their home. He said he knew a volcano had erupted – he heard it.

‘‘We’re still in shock to be honest. First we heard the explosion, and then water was in our house,’’ Sailosi said. His family was safe, but he was worried about what the night would bring.

‘‘Hopefully we’re out of this now, and there aren’t any more waves. Right now we’re just staying put, we’ve got our phones and radio on, for any updates. We’ve heard screaming, people have helped where they could,’’ he said.

‘‘We’ve also heard some singing too, so that’s lifted our spirits a bit. We just hope everyone else is safe out there,’’ Sailosi said, before his phone cut out.

Into the night, relatives in New Zealand, desperate for information, were trying to reach

loved ones. Aminiasi Manu, based in Pakuranga, Auckland, had been trying to contact his 89-year-old mother and his sister in Tonga for hours before finally getting word they were making their way to higher ground.

Their village on the east coast of Tonga is 10 minutes walk from the beach. Manu was worried.

‘‘One part of me is amazed at what is happening and the other part is scared . . . They have to get to higher ground, but there isn’t much high ground in Tonga, there are no mountains.’’

While last night a tsunami warning remained in place for all of Tonga, there was no such warning in New Zealand, but Civil Defence said coastal areas could experience ‘‘strong and unpredictable’’ currents. People in or near the sea should move out of the water, off beaches and shore areas and away from harbours, rivers and estuaries until at least 4am , and people were warned not to go to the coast to watch ‘‘unusual’’ wave activity.

A tsunami warning was also in place for American Samoa, and Fiji – more than 800km from Tonga – were some were evacuating to higher grounds. Dr Frank Ross, who lives in Suva, said there had been ‘‘constant, on-and-off booms’’ for more than half an hour, that were still happening at 7pm (NZ time). The booms could also be heard in Northland.

After people around the country took to Twitter to report hearing the booms, MetService responded that they were caused by a pressure surge from the Hunga-Tonga-Ha’apai volcano in Tonga.

It said the soundwaves might have been heard a little later in some parts of the country and that some people had also heard a rumble, probably associated with the eruption.