in the 1918 flu pandemic. any reluctance now to ask for help would not be without reason. rupert wingfield hayes, bbc news, tokyo. well, earlier, ispoke tojoanne mataele who has been doing all she can to reach herfamily in tonga following the eruption. these are very anxious times indeed. she is in melbourne. i haven t been able to reach my family since 630 tonga time when the blackout happened. i have faith that they are well and saved. have faith that they are well and saved- have faith that they are well and saved. ~ , . ., ., and saved. we share that faith with ou and saved. we share that faith with you and and saved. we share that faith with you and hope and saved. we share that faith with you and hope that - and saved. we share that faith with you and hope that is - and saved. we share that faith with you and hope that is the l with you and hope that is the case. are you able to do anything? we hear about the underwater communications cable, the main communications link has
thank you for that update. i want to turn now to the devastation in tonga after the volcanic eruption there that turned into a tsunami. look at the satellite inaction showing thick ash covering much of the island nation. tonga s government is calling is an unprecedented disaster and a new concern that aid has been slow to arrive. more now from paula hancocks from neighboring australia. paula, what are you learning? reporter: kate, we ve had a statement from the prime minister s office saying that at this point three people have been confirmed dead, but they simply don t know how bad the damage is in many areas. they say there s one island of 50 people just off the coast of tonga. every single building and home has been destroyed so they are trying to evacuate them. now, the main priority at this point is to get clean drinking water and then to get shelter and then to repair the underwater communications cable which has been damaged meaning there is no contact with the
of anne frank to the nazis? it s nine in the morning in singapore, and 2pm in tonga, which remains virtually cut off from the rest of the world after an underwater volcano erupted on saturday, damaging an underwater communications cable. surveillance flights from australia and new zealand reported significant damage in the capital, nuku alofa. tonga has a population of around 100,000, the red cross estimates that about 80% of them may have been affected. 0ur correspondent rupert wingfield hayes has the latest. these pictures of the hunga tonga hunga ha apai volcano erupting are from last friday. this is just a foretaste of what was to come a day later an eruption many,
welcome to our viewers on pbs in america and around the globe. it s already three days since the major eruption of an underwater volcano in tonga and still there is a very worrying lack of information about the scale of the damage done across the many tongan islands, or the whereabouts and well being of many of the islanders. these very limited pictures have just been sent to us. they are from one of the surveillance flights sent by australia and new zealand to assess the damage. the eruption itself appears to have taken out the one main underwater communications cable
deployed ships laden with humanitarian goods to tonga which will take at least three days to get there. affected by the ash and by the tsunami waves so access to clean drinking water is number one. number two is anybody who is living in coastal areas, where houses have been damaged by the tsunami waves, will be in need of shelter. reporter: the need to restore communication. an underwater communications cable from tonga to fiji is damaged. officials say repairs may not be able to begin until the start of next among. tongans living overseas can only wait helplessly to hear from family. the worst fear is always that you are not going to see the people that you love again. um, yeah. that s the worst fear. reporter: the first victim named tuesday, british woman angela glover who moved to tonga to set up an animal welfare charity. her brother says she was swept away by the tsunami while trying to rescue her dogs. angela was the heart of our