Tonga

Funds were transferred after seven days of the cyclone event, providing the government with rapid-response financing to support disaster-relief efforts and effective service delivery to the affected areas.

A fleet of the World Bank's drones, Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, has been transported to Tonga with the support of the Australian government.

The Pacific regional representative for the World Bank, Michel Kerf, said the drones were being used to map the damage wreaked by Gita.

According to him, the mapping will be crucial to helping Tonga's government determine priority areas for recovery and reconstruction.

Tonga has received a payout of more than US$3.5 mill from the Pacific Catastrophe Risk Insurance Company.

“The New Zealand Defence Force’s assistance in airlifting these UNICEF education supplies is key to ensuring the most vulnerable children in Tonga can return to school as soon as possible and regain a sense of normalcy in their disrupted lives,” said Sheldon Yett, UNICEF Pacific Representative.

“UNICEF is supporting the Ministry of Education and Training in Tonga to reach thousands of children affected by this disaster by bringing the classrooms to the children after their schools were damaged in the cyclone,” Mr Yett added.

Of that US$500,000 would be given as immediate relief to Tonga and another US$500,000 would be allocated to it from the India-UN Development Partnership Fund (I-UNDPF), the UN Office of South-South Cooperation (UNOSSC) announced Monday.

“Following the assessment of the damages caused and priorities needing support, the Government of Tonga will identify the rehabilitation projects to be supported through the I-UNDPF,” UNOSSC said.

The United States National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration reported that the Category 4 cyclone was the worst on record to hit Tonga.

Katie Silcock, who is the general manager of the Scenic Hotel, which is near the country's international airport on Tongatapu, said many people in a village near the hotel were in desperate straits.

She said she, and the hotel's assistant manager, visited nearby Fua'amotu village on Tuesday and found people still short of shelter, food and water.

Ms Silcock said she was also concerned at the unsanitary conditions and the risk of dengue.

Tonga FA staff were concerned about the damages sustained by the court and also to the surrounding building.

“I could not believe what has happened to the futsal court when I drove in to check after TC Gita left Tonga,’’ TFA CEO Lui ‘Aho said.

“The red and the blue tiles on top of the court were all rolled to one side of the court and hung over the fence, and it seemed like something that was done deliberately by a group of constructions the other night, but that was actually done by Gita,” ‘Aho added.

The tournament includes Fiji, Georgia, Romania, Samoa and Tonga.

Vunipola made his comments after a large section of the roof of the Teufaiva Stadium were severely damaged by Tropical Cyclone Gita last week.

“I don’t think it would have a “negative impact” on what we have planned for this year,” Vunipola told Kaniva News.

He said maintenance and upgrades of Teufaiva’s track events facilities were planned for June this year.

NRL.com reporter Zac Bailey joined Hurrell as he surprised loved ones in the country’s cyclone-ravaged capital Nuku’alofa.

Hurrell was granted leave from pre-season training by Titans coach Garth Brennan, a decision that gave the Tongan international the chance to lend a hand following the Category 4 cyclone.

Houses were flattened and lives lost in the natural disaster that has crippled the nation.

Just over a week ago the then category four storm swept over 'Eua, which lies some 40 kilometres southeast of the main island of Tongatapu.

Melenaite Sisifa Fili said most of the homes in the six villages she oversees were impacted significantly by the storm with nearly 30 percent destroyed.

There are seven evacuation centres on the island which still harbour a number of families.

But Ms Fili said the initial clean-up has been successful, thanks to the community coming together.

Matangi Tonga reports less than eight months after being officially re-opened, the stadium has fallen back into disrepair after much of its tin roofing was torn off during the cyclone a week ago.

The New Zealand Government funded the upgrade last year to the tune of $US1.5 million dollars and the stadium was re-opened in a ceremony in June.