15 Dec Mango community Town Officer recalls events of HTHH January 15th, 2022
The world is slowly learning of the impact the Hunga Tonga Hunga Ha’apai (HTHH) volcanic eruptions left in its wake on the Tongan islands. The small activity observed from December of 2021 paled in comparison to the violent explosions, tsunami and ashfall that took place on Saturday January 15th.
Mango island is located about 70kms from the HTHH volcano, it along with neighboring island of Fonoi had reported to mainland Tongatapu the need for fresh water as ash had contaminated rainwater tanks on the island. On that fateful day, a naval boat set out to the islands to deliver fresh water and food rations to tide them over.
This is an account of the events on that day from the Town Officer Mr. Sione Vailea.
“It was around 4 I had gone down to the waters to fish for food for the day when I looked up and saw the military boat arriving so I went out to meet them. We had received water and food.”
He was clearly distressed as he tried his best to recollect his thoughts averting our gazes.
“I was going up to the house to shower and change my clothes after being in the ocean. When I emerged I saw the kids standing outside with their phones recording live videos when I heard the first explosion I called to them to stop and return to their homes and seek shelter.”
“When the other explosions occurred all I could think of was my son Taunga who was running along the shore. I grabbed him and went towards higher ground and handed him off to the people who were already there.”
The Town Officer was overcome with emotion as the day came flooding back, he wept openly. His hands shook as he tried to wipe away tears, almost as if he was trying to wipe away the events that took place. He bravely continued telling his story.
“I ran back down to the village and thank God the people did not need or wait for me to evacuate them they had gone on without me. Had they waited…”, he struggled through his tears “they would have died”.
“I grabbed clothes because I didn’t have a shirt on and my child was without clothes when I grabbed him. I really couldn’t see what I was grabbing. When I got to the top I saw I was holding nothing but towels. I did a head count and one family was missing. This was the family who had lost their father.”
“I knew that soon we will have ash fall and we had gone up to higher ground without anything. So I returned down and grabbed as many mats as I could. We the men stood around the women and children sheltering them from the ash while we stood out in the open with the ash and rain pelting us”.
Tears streamed down his weathered face, he was made smaller as his shoulders dropped about him. His voice would catch as he told his story.
“When the ash stopped the young man who had lost his father asked me to help him go down and look for his father. We searched but we had to return as we couldn’t find him and I said we will come down again in early light.”
“It was Sunday morning, we had been singing hymns all night. We said a prayer on that hilltop and the young man and I descended down to the village to look for his father. It must’ve been God’s doing because we didn’t look far before we found him there.”
His grief gave way to more sobbing, as if he had failed this young man – that the death of this fellow community member was his doing.
“I knew we needed to bury him, we went to the cemetery but it was underwater. We buried him and should the time come we can move him to a better resting place.”
“The kids were hungry they didn’t know any better, they didn’t know what was happening. They woke up crying saying we’re hungry, we want food but there was no food, there was no water. We found a small pig and we cooked that for the women and children while we the men went without food.”
He sobbed again, one could not help but think that he was crying for the children and his child who had to experience the indecency of going without food, water and shelter.
“One day a man reached into his pocket and produced a pack of noodles. That was all the food we had. We went without food for 3 days. A surveyors boat came in. Another surveyor boat arrived the other day and I sent word we needed food so Fonoi brought root crops and some bananas. We were given one large pig and a few smaller ones. That day was the first day since the eruption that we ate and had our fill”.
When asked what their immediate need is for the moment he looked up and met our gaze for the first time before looking away.
“It’s a home, houses for us to live in.”
The population of Mango was evacuated to Tongatapu. The island has been inundated by seawater and their return is uncertain. What is certain is that these displaced people will need relocating, more support in these difficult times. The Town Officer was courageous to relive these events, it is an event that has left an indelible mark on the population and one that no doubt is a heavy burden to bear for the rest of the Mango population.
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