Tsunami hits Pacific island Tonga, communications lost, no word on real damage

After a tsunami hit the Pacific island nation of Tonga, there has been a lot of damage, but communication problems are making it hard to get the whole picture.

Waves that were more than one metre high hit Tonga. This is the first time that we have heard about people getting hurt or dying.

The friends and family of a British woman, Angela Glover, say she hasn't been seen for long; there are speculations that she drowned away in the water.

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Internet and telephone communication is minimal, and many coastal areas are still cut off, making it hard to know how much harm has been done.

In a post on Facebook, the New Zealand High Commission in Tonga said that the western coast of the main island of Tonga has been hit hard by Tsunami. This includes resorts and the waterfront area of northern Nuku'alofa.

The Ha'atafu Beach Resort on the island of Tongatapu said that the resort had been "completely wiped out" and that "the whole western coastline had been completely destroyed."

It said that the people who lived there "only got to safety by running through the bushes and fleeing." They "couldn't save anything," it said.

"It will be at least 2 weeks before international phones and the internetwork again because of damage to a critical submarine cable caused by the volcanic eruption," Barbara Dreaver wrote.