By 1news and is republished with permission.

The Government is considering repatriation flights to New Zealand for those affected by the volcanic eruption and tsunami in Tonga, Foreign Affairs Minister Nanaia Mahuta said on Wednesday.

However, nothing has been confirmed yet for those affected and their families, she added.

Mahuta said she would be providing an update about any decision about those flights at a later date.

“Our thoughts and prayers remain with the families who are very anxious about what’s happened in Tonga — those who are here in New Zealand and those who are experiencing the hardships.”

It comes as clean-up work continues in the kingdom.

Images from the ground are beginning to emerge, and they reveal widespread damage to several low-lying islands, including Mango and Fonoifua.

All the houses on Mango have been destroyed.

All the houses on Mango have been destroyed. (Source: RNZAF)

An evacuation operation got underway on Wednesday morning for residents on some of the smaller islands of Ha’apai.

Mahuta said about 150 people were being evacuated to other islands.

As of Wednesday afternoon, New Zealand’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said power had been restored and damage assessments were ongoing.

Work to clear the airport runway is also continuing and is expected to be finished later on Wednesday. Mahuta said this will allow a New Zealand Defence Force C130 Hercules, which is carrying aid, to land by the end of the week once assessments were completed.

Mahuta said reports indicated there was “significant ashfall” on the runway, but there didn’t seem to be significant damage to it.

Communications to and from Tonga continue to be challenging, with US cable company SubCom advising it could take at least four weeks for the islands’ sole fibre-optic cable to be repaired. The undersea cable is critical in linking Tonga to other international networks.

Digicel, an international mobile phone network provider, has set up an interim system on Tongatapu using the University of South Pacific’s satellite dish. This could allow a limited and patchy 2G connection to be established as early as the end of Wednesday.

Defence Minister Peeni Henare said HMNZS Wellington and HMNZS Aotearoa are expected to arrive in Tonga by Friday, depending on the weather. The ships will be carrying 250,000 litres of fresh water, desalination units, surveying equipment, and diving teams.

Henare said the number one need on the ground continued to be fresh water.

Extensive damage to Fonoifua Island.

Extensive damage to Fonoifua Island. (Source: RNZAF)

Relief and health supplies are being distributed by Tongan authorities. Mahuta said Kiwi personnel were standing by and ready to help if needed.

But keeping the kingdom Covid-19-free was proving “a challenge in all sorts of ways”, she said.

“Our Prime Minister’s really mindful that our relationship with the Pacific nations is one that respects their desire to keep Covid out of their islands,” Mahuta said.

“This is a very different circumstance, a massive once-in-a-few-hundred-year explosion took place.”

She said Tongan and New Zealand authorities were discussing what could be viable in pandemic times. This included contactless deliveries of aid and underwater and air assessments of damage by Kiwi personnel, away from other people.

The New Zealand Government has pledged $1 million so far to the Tongan Government to help with recovery operations.

Three people are confirmed dead after a tsunami struck the capital, Nuku’alofa, following the eruption of the Hunga-Tonga-Hunga-Ha’apai underwater volcano on Saturday night.

Mahuta said no further deaths had been reported as of Wednesday afternoon.

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