A state of emergency was declared for two of Tonga’s three island groups. The Kingdom of Tonga, a South Pacific nation, was struck by a powerful category 5 cyclone named Ian on Saturday. Travel and tourism is a major industry in the only remaining Kingdom in Polynesia. Tonga is an archipelago of 176 islands, 36 of which are inhabited by more than 100,000 people.
Cyclone Ian brought heavy rain and strong winds forecast to gust at up to 287 kilometers (178 miles) per hour.
No deaths, injuries, missing persons or missing vessels were reported in Tonga by this afternoon as Severe Tropical Cyclone Ian, now category 4, with its centre packing punches from 194-268km/hr gusts, weaved its way between the Vava‘u and Ha‘apai groups today, passing close to the exposed small outlying island communities of Mo‘unga‘one and Muitoa, whose fate remains unknown. However, the powerful cyclone that intensified to category 5 last night has surprised storm-watchers by letting Vava‘u off lightly without the expected destruction.
The cyclone has destroyed homes and ripping roofs from churches and other public buildings in the populous northern islands. There were no immediate reports of injuries.
The storm was later downgraded from the top of the scale of destructive cyclones to category four, with gusts of up to 250 kph (155 mph).
The main island of Tongatapu in the south appears to have avoided the worst of the storm.
Tonga’s Director of Emergencies Leveni Aho said damage to homes, churches and other public buildings was reported on Lifuka island in the central Ha’apai group and Hunga island in the Vava’u group to the north.
The extent of the damage was still being assessed, but the destruction appeared to be less extensive than Tongans had feared from the first category-five storm they had experienced in decades.
“The lucky part … is that although it is very highly dangerous, the eye was so narrow, the extent of the damage is not what you associate normally with a category-five cyclone,” Aho said. He estimated the storm’s eye was less than 60 kms (35 miles) across.
While churches had been prepared as standby evacuation centers, Aho said he was not aware of people leaving their homes in large numbers.
Aho advised against travel between Tongan islands during the storm and urged residents of outer islands to stay put.
