The Tongans were hated as a result of the volcanic eruption as Reuters fled in search of safety

(Reuters) – Tonga’s Hunga When the Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano erupted violently, sending shockwaves and tsunamis across the Pacific Ocean, the eruption of a small island nation was so devastating that fleeing families were only flashing to run their loved ones.

“The first explosion … our ears were ringing and we couldn’t even hear each other, so all we do is get our families up, ready to run,” local journalist Marian Kupu told Reuters. Accounts of the first witness from the South Pacific nation.

“We were evacuated and then we, all our families, were fleeing the Kolovai area because Kolovai is near the shore,” Kupuk said, explaining the chaotic scenes outside the capital Nuku’alofa on Saturday evening.

An explosion that killed at least three people has sent tsunami waves about 15 meters (50 feet) to a small island and damaged many towns, resorts and buildings in others. It also cut off domestic and foreign communications by cutting off a cable on the Internet at sea.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center said the eruption’s strength is equivalent to five to 10 megatons of TNT, or more than 500 times the nuclear bomb that the United States dropped on the Japanese city of Hiroshima. World War II.

Five days later communications were only partially reinstated and witness accounts began to be given.

Located on the side of the road in the capital, Kupuk wears a mask and a white cloth to protect himself from the volcanic dust that surrounds Tonga and contaminates his drinking water.

“Dust is on the roofs, in the trees, everywhere,” he said.

“What worries us now is clean drinking water. Most of our drinking water is contaminated with volcanic dust.”

Asked about the food supply for 105,000 people in Tonga, Kupu said: “Maybe we can survive in the next few weeks, but I’m not sure about the water.”

Power for the capital and other places was still fragile.

“The electricity is back, but it’s on and off. It’s been caused by a lot of ash in the transformers and street lights have been damaged. Some outages last for hours, others for days,” Kupuk said.

People around the capital and the outlying islands explored the rubble and dust on Thursday as they embark on a long rebuilding work and wait for foreign aid to arrive.

Kupu said some villages in western Tonga were badly damaged.

“I’m not going to say we expect more deaths, but we’re talking about the government trying to fly to other islands to control them,” he said.