Tuesday, August 5, 2025
Newsletter
Support Kaniva
Home Blog Page 236

First thunderstorms heard in Tonga following volcanic eruption bring spooky memories

By
Kalino Latu
-

A series of thunderstorms heard in Tonga since this morning triggered a sense of horror among some residents who recalled their terrifying experience of hearing the booming volcanic eruption on January 15.

Eruption of the Hungas on January 15

“What’s that explosion, hope it’s not from the twins”, said one on Facebook, referring to the two islands of Hunga Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai where the eruption occurred.

“Do not thunder like that”, another said in Tongan, comparing this afternoon’s thunderstorms to what they had heard on January 15.

“What type of thunder is that. Is it from the sky or the Hungas”.

The Tonga Meteorological Services immediately posted on Facebook and said they were in fact thunderstorms and did not come from the two Hungas.

“Sorry, the thunderstorms today were from the stormy weather and did not come from the volcano” it said in Tongan. 

Responding, a commenter wrote in Tongan: “Thank you so much for clarifying as we were all in shock when we heard the thunder.”

“We must tremble as we would not forget what happened on January 15,” another wrote.

Tongatapuans continued reporting loud thunder and heavy rain this evening.

Met Service later said this evening that associate clouds with some showers and thunderstorm will affect Tongatapu, ‘Eua, Ha’apai and Vava’u tonight and tomorrow.

Traumatic experience

No doubt it will take years for the people of Tonga to get over the traumatic experience.

The booming of the January eruption was described at the time by Tongatapu locals as deafening and raucous. The atmospheric shockwave travelled around the globe and was picked up on air pressure sensors as far away as Iceland.

A scientist said the eruption now holds the world record for being heard so far from the volcano. Audible booming was heard from New Zealand to the south and Alaska to the north. A tsunami was triggered, killing four people, flattening houses and wiping out some nearby islands.

An ash cloud unleashed by the blast settled over some of the islands including the main island in a monochromatic blanket.

According to NASA, the volcanic eruption in Tonga was hundreds of times more powerful than the atomic bomb the US dropped on Hiroshima at the end of World War Two.

According to recent academic research, the number of extreme disasters have increased greatly in recent years and resulted in threats and traumatic reactions in communities around the world.

PM Visits Nomuka

Meanwhile, Prime Minister Hu’akavameiliku visited the people of Nomuka in Ha’apai on Saturday, March 5.

Nomuka was one of the islands hardest hit by the tsunami, which claimed the life of a 49-year-old woman.

Hon. Hu’akavameiliku told the Nomuka residents the government would do all it could to help them return to normal life.

The Prime Minister visited the island on an RAAF Chinook helicopter, accompanied by the Australian High Commissioner to Tonga, Her Excellency, Ms. Rachael Moore.

The Prime Minister said. “I am here to see for myself and to see what needs to be done and ensure no one is left behind.”

Hon. Hu’akavameiliku  extended his heartfelt gratitude to the Australian Government and to the Australian High Commissioner for the availability of the helicopter to make his visit possible.

Covid-19: 23,894 new cases today, 756 people in hospital – Ministry of Health

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

The Ministry of Health is reporting 23,894 new cases of Covid-19, with 9881 in Auckland.No caption

Photo: 123rf.com

In addition there are 756 people in hospital with Covid-19 and 16 of those are in ICU. The seven-day rolling average of community cases is 18,669, up from yesterday.

Of the new cases, 596 were confirmed via PCR testing and 23,298 via rapid antigen tests (RATs).

At the 1pm Covid-19 update, Director of Public Health Dr Caroline McElnay said the actual number of cases in the community was expected to be considerably higher, but that was hard to gauge when using RAT as the primary test. That was why the ministry was focusing on hospitalisations, McElnay said.

In a statement, the Ministry of Health reiterated caution when interpreting daily cases.

“We are still seeing a daily increase in Covid-19 hospitalisations and the seven-day rolling average of community cases. From March 1 to March 7, the seven day rolling average increased from 10,698 to 17,921, and over the same period, hospitalisations increased from 373 to 696.

“These numbers clearly show that Omicron is still spreading in our communities … Contributing factors to the decrease in case numbers seen in the previous few days are likely to have been either a lower level of testing and a lower level of self-reporting of RAT test results over the weekend, or a combination of both.”

McElnay said Aucklanders yesterday recorded their highest number of RATs ever, 43,735 – some 25 percent higher than the previous highest day, last Monday.

District Health Boards reported continuing pressure on staffing, particularly with cover through the night but occupancy levels remain manageable, McElnay said.

The lesser severity in comparison to the Delta outbreak was strongly related to the highly vaccinated status of the New Zealand population.

The ministry said it was continuing to see a larger proportion of unvaccinated cases in hospital with Covid-19.

“Just 3 percent of eligible people aged 12 and over in New Zealand have had no doses of the vaccine. However, of those aged over 12 in Northland and Auckland hospitals with Covid-19 for whom we have vaccination data recorded, 19.4 percent have had no doses of the vaccine.

“Even early in the Omicron outbreak, the figures show that, based on the data available, unvaccinated people are significantly over-represented in the current hospitalisation data.”

Hospitals are being impacted by the number of cases, with doctors at Middlemore stepping in to cover nursing shifts, and services in Hawke’s Bay being reduced.

People are also facing difficulties getting access to rapid antigen tests (RATs) in some areas, including on the Kāpiti Coast. The ministry has said it aimed to ensure 90 percent of people across New Zealand could access a test within a 20-minute drive.

Murder investigation after twin sister’s death in Vava‘u

By
Kaniva Staff
-

UPDATED: A homicide investigation was launched Saturday morning after a woman was allegedly stabbed to death in Vava’u.

Tonga Police. Photo/Kalino Lātū

Police were called to a home at Falaleu village after reports of what appeared to be a fatal stabbing incident in a house, a reliable source told Kaniva News.

It is understood police made an arrest and are not looking for anyone else over the incident.

Kaniva News has learnt the occupants of the house were a brother and his twin sister, who was the victim, as well as the sister’s young daughter.

The deceased was a staff at the Vava’u governor’s office.

Vava’u police could not be reached for comment.

The news came after a 17 year old youth, and a 30 year old woman drowned at seas in Vava’u earlier this year in separate incidents.

Covid-19 Tonga update:  Cumulative cases surpass 1,000, active cases rise to 678

By
Kaniva Staff
-

There are 113 new cases of Covid-19 in Tonga today, the Ministry of Health reports.

The Ministry said there are 678 active cases while 324 cases had been recovered.

It said the total number of cases since the outbreak stood at 1,002.

The reports on the Ministry of Health’s Facebook page this morning did not say how many new cases at MIQs and how many were self isolation. It also did not name any close contact Covid-19 location of interest.

There are 28 cases of Covid on Vava’u, the Vava’u governor, Lord Fakatulolo told FM87.5 this morning.  He said some new cases were infected after a passenger travelled from Tongatapu tested positive.  

The governor said he wanted to know whether or not there was a breach of aircraft Covid policy after the apparent infected passenger was allowed to travel to Vava’u.

The Ministry said 97 percent of the eligible population had received their first dose and 89 percent fully vaccinated.

So far, 40 percent of eligible Tongans have had their booster jab.

Tongan family killed in California vehicle accident

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By freshnobee.com

A Tongan family from Washington was identified Thursday as the four killed and three injured in a crash on Interstate 5 the previous day, according to the California Highway Patrol.

The family was riding in a Chrysler Aspen minivan about 9:30 a.m. Wednesday headed south on I-5 north of Derrick Avenue before for unknown reasons the van struck a parked big rig, according to officer Rory Marks. Those killed were passenger 43-year-old Lute Katalina Fekitoa, 25-year-old Naomi Cook, and two children — 13-year-old Keola James (KJ) Cook and 9-year-old Adimada Fekitoa.

Injured were 52-year-old Maikolo Fekitoa, who was driving; 37-year-old Henry Cook; and an 11-year-old girl, CHP said.

The Fekitoas are from Auburn and the rest are from Edmonds, both cities in Washington, CHP said.

The big rig was unoccupied and officers are still investigating why it was parked on the right shoulder of I-5, CHP said.

The van drifted from the roadway and into the left rear end of the trailer.

The van sustained major structural damage and much of the right side of the van was sheered off, Marks said.

“It pretty much opened up the passenger compartment and the vehicle spun around,” he said. Four of the passengers were ejected, CHP said.

One of the surviving passengers was flown by helicopter to Community Regional Medical Center. Two others were taken there by ambulance.

All of their injuries are considered major, according to CHP. The southbound side of the highway was shutdown for about six hours, CHP said.

A Caltrans camera screengrab of Interstate 5 near Derrick Avenue where a crash that killed four has shutdown the southbound side, California Highway Patrol said Wednesday, March 2, 2022.

Bennett flies to Moscow, is holding talks with Putin on Ukraine war

By
Kaniva Staff
-

.

JERUSALEM, March 5 (Reuters) – Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett met with Russian President Vladimir Putin in the Kremlin on Saturday to discuss the Ukraine crisis, his spokesperson said.

illustrative: Prime Minister Naftali Bennett (left) meets with Russian President Vladimir Putin in Sochi, Russia, on October 22, 2021. (Kobi Gideon/GPO)ראש הממשלה נפתלי בנט נפגש עם נשיא רוסיה ולדימיר פוטין בסוצ’י, רוסיהPhoto by Kobi Gideon / GPO

Israel, home to a substantial population of Russian immigrants, has offered to mediate in the conflict between Russia and Ukraine, though officials have previously played down expectations of a breakthrough.

While Israel, a close ally of the United States, has condemned the Russian invasion, voiced solidarity with Kyiv and sent humanitarian aid to Ukraine, it has said it will maintain communications with Moscow in the hope of helping to ease the crisis.

Israel is also mindful of Moscow’s military support for President Bashar al-Assad in next-door Syria, where Israel regularly attacks Iranian and Hezbollah military targets. Contacts with Moscow prevent Russian and Israeli forces trading fire by accident. read more

Bennett, a religious Jew, took a flight in violation of Sabbath law because Judaism permits this when the aim is to preserve human life, his spokesperson said.

RSE scheme cap increased to 16,000

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

The government has increased the cap on workers from the Pacific under the Recognised Seasonal Employer scheme to 16,000 workers.Pacific Islander diong seasonal work under the RSE scheme in Hawke's Bay.

Pacific Islander diong seasonal work under the RSE scheme in Hawke’s Bay. Photo: RNZ / Johnny Blades

RSE scheme is a standalone employer-assisted visa category that enables employers in the horticulture and winegrowing sector to recruit an annually capped number of seasonal workers.

The cap for the scheme was initially set at 5000 workers in 2007 but has more than doubled since then due to growing employer demand for labour.

Agriculture Minister Damien O’Connor said it had raised the cap from 14,400 to 16,000 so employers could access more labour to help with planting, maintenance, harvesting, packing and winter pruning.

Immigration Minister Kris Faafoi said the phased reopening of the Working Holiday Schemes from 13 March will also provide orchardists and winegrowers with access to more workers to help close out the season.

“While we are announcing an increase to the cap for this season, it is important to note the ability to access the full cap may be impacted by pressures faced by labour-sending countries, such as localised Covid-19 outbreaks and the recent volcanic eruption in Tonga,” Kris Faafoi said.

Damien O’Connor said before Covid-19, the government set out clear conditions the sector needed to meet before it would consider an increase to the Scheme’s cap.

This included making jobs more attractive and accessible to New Zealanders by improving wages and working conditions as well as reducing pressure on existing housing stock in some areas, by providing purpose-built accommodation.

“The sector has made good progress in these areas with wages having increased relative to the minimum wage and a significant increase in the number of purpose-built beds for workers,” O’Connor said.

Growers welcome the increased cap.

Industry group Horticulture New Zealand welcomed the news that the government has increased the cap on workers from the Pacific under the RSE scheme.

Chief executive Nadine Tunley said growers were under significant stress at the moment due to the severe shortage of labour that Covid-19 related border restrictions have created.

Some growers were saying they only had 50 percent of the workers they need to get fruit picked, packed and to market, she said.

“While the increase won’t benefit the apple and kiwifruit harvests that are currently underway, it is good news for the horticulture industry, long term.”

Central Otago viticultralist James Dicey said any extra RSE staff would be well utilised by winegrowers during winter pruning.

“That key time for the vineyard industry, at the New Zealand Inc level, is actually during the winter. There were vines that weren’t fully pruned last year in Marlborough…. because there wasn’t enough labour force to get the job done in time.”

Dicey said with the low level of unemployment in New Zealand at the moment, finding staff was very challenging.

‘It’s pretty hard when you spend all this money growing these fantastic grapes to be able to unable to harvest them, it’s tragic and it’s just a real missed opportunity for for the whole of New Zealand really because it’s a great export earner.”

Cable connecting Tongan islands could take year to fix

By
Kaniva Staff
-

By RNZ.co.nz and is republished with permission.

Tonga Cable Ltd says the country’s domestic telecommunications cable may take up to a year to fix.

The cable was ripped apart by January’s devastating volcanic eruption and tsunami.Underwater communications cable

Photo: 123RF

Tonga Cable chief executive James Panuve says up to 110km of a special cable may have to be manufactured in France, if it can’t source a spare cable of the same type elsewhere.

The cable ship Reliance departed the cable site on Monday after successfully recovering both ends of the domestic cable.

The Southern Cross Cable, connecting Tonga to the world, was repaired just over a week ago.

Panuve said the south end of the broken cable was found 31km from Tongatapu and the north end was located about 136km from Tongatapu. There is gap of around 110km between the two broken ends.

“It has attempted to recover the middle section but it appears that the cable has been deeply buried under debris from the volcano eruption of 15 January. Without proper survey equipment it is hard to tell what has happened to the cable system. Water depth in this area is between 1.6 to 1.8km,” he said.

Panuve said the ship will provide Tonga Cable with a more detailed report on their findings, “but we estimate that we are looking at needing up to 110km of this submarine cable before we can repair the damage to the domestic system.

“The other problem is that this cable type is not easily sourced and none of our neighbouring cable operators have any of this cable type. We are looking worldwide for anyone with spare cable of this type, failing which, we will need to order it from Alcatel in France, which could take 6-9 months to manufacture and deliver.

“But as with most things, I think it would be safe to bet on a year,” he told Matangi Tonga.

Seabed research needed

The seabed around the Hunga Tonga – Hunga Ha’apai volcano changed dramatically during the eruptions, and the domestic cable was laid close to it. Tonga might have to rethink whether it’s safe to lay a new cable in the same place. James hopes some proposed research of the seabed will go ahead.

“We have been contacted by a group known as the International Cable Protection Committee who are interested in sending a research vessel to do a survey of the area and our cable system to see what the seabed looks like after the devastating volcano eruption of January 15.

“This may be of great assistance for Tonga Cable in understanding what happened to our two cable systems and possibly whether it is safe to relay our domestic cable on its original path. If successful, the research vessel may be visiting our waters in March or April of this year.”

James also expressed his gratitude to the neighbouring cable operators in the region who helped Tonga repair the break in its international cable between Fiji and Tonga.

“Although the repair time was a bit longer than what we had originally anticipated, considering the amount of damage caused to our international cable we are lucky to have had it repaired by February 22.

“Some cable operators reached out to us to offer their assistance and we also had to ask some of them to lend us some of their spares, which were stored on the cable repair ship, Reliance.”

Covid-19 Omicron Tonga update: 342 active cases while number of people recovered stands at 303

By
Kaniva Staff
-

There are 342 active cases of Covid in Tonga today, says the Minister of Health.

Health Minister Saia Piukala

Hon Piukala said 303 cases had been recovered since the outbreak.

The Minister would not say how many new cases in the community and how many cases in the MIQs.

“This morning there are 645 cases in total since the outbreak,” Hon Piukala said. He said the 645 cases included the first positive case detected in October last year.

He said of the 645 cases, 637 were on Tongatapu, seven on Vava’u and the case from last year.

In the Vava’u cases, six had been recovered and one was still in isolation, the Minister said.

He said there were 26 new cases on Friday last week, 20 on Saturday, 59 on Sunday, 57 on Monday, 100 on Tuesday which included 83 cases at the Hu’atolitoli prison and 17 in the community. On Wednesday there 28 cases included 10 new cases at the Hu’atolitoli prison.

Hon Piukala said Haapai, ‘Eua and the Niuas were still Covid free.

More repatriation flights expected

The Minister said the 174 repatriates from Fiji, Australia and New Zealand at the MIQs had been released and allowed to go home on Tuesday.

He said seven people were still at the Taliai MIQ including five who tested positive and two were negative but because they were family members isolating together they have to remain at the MIQ. Hon Piukala would not confirm whether these seven cases were repatriates or locals.

The next repatriation flights will be from New Zealand and Australia on Tuesday next week, he said.

Another flights on Thursday are expected  to bring back the remaining stranded Tongans in Fiji, Samoa and Vanuatu.

Tonga scraps quarantine requirement for outer islands’ shipments following damages to ‘Eua cargo

By
Kaniva Staff
-

All shipments from Tongatapu to outer islands will no longer need to be quarantined upon arrival, the government said this afternoon Wednesday 2.

Ha’apai residents receiving their shipments from New Zealand. Photo/ Pita Taufatofua

The decision came after Kaniva News reported Tuesday that ’Eua residents had complained after heavy rain damaged goods sent by their families in New Zealand following the January volcano eruption and tsunami.

The goods had been stored in the open at Nāfanua wharf which was completely wiped out by the tsunami.

The Minister of Internal Affairs Sangstar Saulala said in announcing the Cabinet decision the ‘Eua shipments were being quarantined for 72 hours when the incident happened.

Hon Saulala said the Cabinet agreed to remove the 72- hour quarantine requirement after it received recommendations from the Ministry of Health and the National Emergency Management Office.

“The Cabinet does not want to see any further damages to donations from our kāinga overseas to our people which were affected by the disasters”, Saulala said in Tongan.   

The Minister thanked overseas kāinga and said the government appreciated their donations.

As we reported yesterday, many ‘Eua residents were concerned and asked why the government did not set up a temporary shelter to protect their cargos.

The damage to the shipments had been described as “huge”.

The government decision came after a boat with shipments got in trouble and ran aground near Tonga’s  Nomuka island in the Ha’apai group last week.

The 14 meter long boat was on its way from Pangai with quarantined shipments.

The cargo was shipped from Nuku’alofa to Pangai, Ha’apai so that they could be quarantined there for 72 hours before sending them to Nomuka.

The boat was overloaded and an attempt to speed up the process of bailing seawater failed, the government said at the time.

Volcanic eruption and tsunami

The disaster killed four people and caused US$90.4m (TOP 208M) in damages to Tonga, according to the World Bank, equivalent to 18.5 percent of Tonga’s GDP.

Immediately after the eruption and the fatal tsunami, a relief committee known as Aotearoa Tongan Relief Committee (ATRC) was set up in Auckland to help ship people’s donation to the kingdom.

Reports by the ATRC said it filled more than 70 shipping containers full of drums of  food and non-perishable items. More than  50 of them had already been shipped to Tonga.

1...235236237...904Page 236 of 904
© Copyright 2025 Kaniva Tonga News & Entertainment