TONGA – Tonga’s disaster authorities say good progress is being made getting emergency shelter out to the remote villages lashed by Cyclone Gita.

Over 1000 homes were damaged or destroyed when the category 4 cyclone hit Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu five days ago.

Graham Kenna of the National Emergency Management Office said the Tongan armed forces had done a fantastic job clearing roads. He said people in the community were also clearing up rubbish and debris as quickly as possible.

“This morning, despite heavy rain, there’s been ongoing fast response distributions of emergency shelter to the villages on the eastern side of Tongatapu and the western side.

“And also the Tonga Red Cross is doing shelter distributions within the capital. It’s going very smoothly and very quickly.”

Kenna said there had been some welcome rain to fill tanks.

But he said it could take up to a month to reconnect electricity to all areas.

Tonga has dispatched a naval patrol vessel to the island of ‘Eua to help those living on the island which was directly in the path of Cyclone Gita.

5000 people live on ‘Eua which neighbours the main island of Tongatapu, but little has been heard about how it fared during this week’s category four storm.

Kenna said it was understood there were some injuries on the island but no one has died.

“They’ve had no communications there so the Australian government has supplied two radio technicians to get the radios up and running and to see if we can do anything to get the electricity back on.”

Disaster Authorities in Tonga are appealing to the diaspora in New Zealand and Australia for financial support rather than sending containers full of used household goods.

The National Emergency Management Office said unwanted items only clogged up the system and make it more difficult for aid supplies to get through.

Kenna said in the past Tongan expats have shipped containers full of old household items but they were no good to anyone.

He suggested those wanting to help could sell their unwanted things and donate the proceeds.

More than 12 tonnes of aid and disaster relief supplies from New Zealand arrived yesterday on a Defence Force Hercules aircraft.

The New Zealand Defence Force said agriculture tool kits, family hygiene kits, collapsible water containers, tarpaulins, generators and chainsaw packs were all on board.

People in American Samoa are complaining about a series of problems with emergency communications during Cyclone Gita.

This follows concerns from neighbouring Samoa about their problems with relaying emergency updates.

RNZI correspondent in Pago Pago, Monica Miller, works for the local KHJ FM radio station.

She said a series of errors were made, including misinformation being relayed on air leading people to believe that it was just a tropical depression rather than a cyclone.

And she said a number of emergency generators did not work after downed trees cut the power supply, probably due to a lack of maintenance.

“People were caught off guard,” she said. “They did not really prepare as normally there would be a lot of advice going out before a system arrives but that did not happen.”

“There are questions and even government people I have talked to are commenting about that and hopefully when this whole thing is over they can take a post mortem and see how these things can be improved.”

Miller said American Samoa needs to improve its emergency communication strategies moving forward.

Authorities in American Samoa have issued a warning about price gouging after Cyclone Gita hit the territory at the weekend.

Retailers are being reminded it’s illegal to raise the price of certain consumer goods by 10 percent or more after the declaration of a state of emergency.

The territory’s governor, Lolo Matalasi Moliga, declared a state of emergency last Friday as the devastating winds and heavy rain from Gita began impacting the main island of Tutuila.

Soon after this reports surfaced of price gouging at some stores.

The price gouging law requires businesses to provide proof a price rise is not “unfair”. - RNZ/PNC