Sea level

Ambassador and Permanent Representative of the Kingdom of Tonga to the United Nations, Viliami Va’inga Tōnē, highlighted the concern at the Twenty-first Meeting of the United Nations Open-ended Informal Consultative Process on Oceans and the Law of the Sea recently.

Tōnē said natural disasters now frequently occurred with tropical cyclones of unprecedented high magnitudes, often accompanied by abnormally high tides which are also commonly referred to as King Tides.

RNZ's correspondent Giff Johnson said there has been some debris thrown up from the sea onto roads in the low lying atolls this week but no more than usual.

He said people are likely to be more concerned and on alert next month as king tides traditionally peak and are more common in January and February.

Mr Johnson said the Marshall Islands are relatively unaffected for now.