Saturday, January 11, Cyclone Ian
struck the Ha'apai island group of Tonga, with gusts reaching 178
mph. Watch on the cyclone began January 2, when it was categorized as
a class 2 cyclone. It moved very slowly, was eventually upgraded to
category 4, then category 5 before smashing into Ha'apai, with the
eye of the storm passing directly over the main islands of Lifuka and
Foa. It was estimated between 75 and 95% of all buildings were
demolished among the 17 populated islands in the 51-island Ha'apai
group. One life was lost due to injuries received from flying debris.
The cyclone passed by the Niuas and
Vava'u causing some high wind gusts and some rain before stomping on
Ha'apai, then passing by Tongatapu in the middle of the night with
very little notice. I stayed up until after 3:00 a.m. waiting for the
cyclone to hit. There was some wind and some rain....much, much
lighter than other storms we've experienced thus far. I watched the
wind change the direction the palm fronds were blowing, so I knew the
eye of the storm had passed us by....and then I went to sleep. The
cyclone was a big nonevent on Tongatapu.
By Monday the 14 stakes on Tongatapu
began gathering clothing, tents, food, and other goods to send to the
people of Ha'apai. They began collecting supplies at 10:00, and
thought they would have everything
loaded on the ferry by noon. Truck
load after truck load of goods began showing up at the ferry
terminal. The line of trucks waiting to offload their supplies grew
until it extended down the street. Drivers waited hours in line
before they could unload their goods. Flour, sugar, vegetables,
fruit, tents, tarps, clothing, saws, axes. The poorest of the poor
gathered what extra they had and added it to the growing load. One
lady, who only had a few dresses in her wardrobe, figured she really
only needed one. She gave nearly her entire wardrobe to those who
literally had nothing. Shortly after midnight the last or the trucks
emptied its load. The ferry was full to overfilling. The hold was
full, the walkways were full, every spare space on the ferry was
full. Sister Webb, a humanitarian missionary who helped with the
cyclone relief, said she wept the entire day.
By Tuesday morning the supplies were in
Ha'apai and being unloaded. It was expected that the government would
divide the goods. But, there were those who had their doubts that the
people of Ha'apai would actually get said goods if the government
became involved. So, a wise mission president (President Tupou) and
area authority (Elder Tukuafu) suggested that the stake president in
Ha'apai divide everything into equal amounts among the villages, and
that the bishop and government representative of each village would
then pass out the goods to ALL the people who resided in their
village, regardless of religion. These supplies were the only
supplies distributed among the people of Ha'apai until three weeks
after the cyclone. Anything the government received they stockpiled
in buildings, some of it going bad, until they finally got around to
getting it to the people.
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| Sister Meyers, Sister Webb, Elder Webb |
Tuesday Pres. Tupou, Elder Tukuafu, and
Howard Niu (head of the service center in Liahona) chartered a plane
to Ha'apai. Communications were still down, so they took a satellite
phone with them. All missionaries had been accounted for and were
helping with the clean up. While most of the other churches had
sustained major damage – many of them losing entire roofs –
the
LDS churches and Mqs (missionary quarters) sustained minimal damage.
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| LDS Church in background - empty foundation in foreground |
L
 |
| MQ - Missionary Quarters |
A very small section of a roof on one chapel had been lost, and a few
doors had blown off. And most of the roof of the home the Va'enuku's
lived in (a senior missionary couple) had blown off and they had to
seek refuge in the service center. That was it. Residents all over
Ha'apai ran to the LDS churches as the cyclone got near. And many of
those who spent the first half of the cyclone NOT in an LDS church,
ran to our churches during the lull of the storm when the eye passed
over, because they knew the only safe places on the islands were the
LDS churches.
One of the zone leaders, Elder
Montgomery, shared with us a video he made during the first part of
the cyclone. He and his companion had come to the main town of Pangai
on the island of Lifuku to make sure the missionaries there were
okay, and were unable to to get back to their village before the
cyclone hit. So, they weathered the first part of the storm in the
chapel in Pangai. His video shows palms bending nearly to the ground,
debris flying, buildings being blown apart. Next to the church was a
small Chinese store that had been completely demolished. During the
lull in the storm looters began taking cans of food that was still
within the vicinity of the store. Elder Montgomery and Elder Ika (the
zone leaders in Ha'apai) ran out to help the Chinese owners pick up
what they could to keep the looters from stealing it, and tossed
everything into the back of the owner's van. Then the back side of
the storm hit. They were barely able to make it into the van. Wind
and debris pummeled the van. They were able to drive a short distance
to a more secure location where they waited out the storm. Elder
Montgomery said the building was small, dark, and they were unable to
see anything. They could only hear the wind as it howled past them,
and debris as it smashed into the building.
Cyclones are a way of life here. The
people of Ha'apai are picking up and moving on. They are a strong
people. The Lord blessed them and looked out for them. It is amazing
to think that only one person lost their life. And there were no
serious injuries. It is truly a miracle.
Here are some pictures two weeks after the cyclone hit.
