(Picture caption: A group shot taken at the Initial Damage Assessment Training for the Emergency Management sector, conducted by a New Zealand Technical Advisor early last year. Photo credit: NEMO.)
The low death toll following the eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga and consequent tsunami is a testament to the work of the Tonga National Emergency Management Organisation (NEMO), with support from the New Zealand Government.
It is understood to have been the most explosive eruption in 30 years, and created a larger tsunami than experts thought possible.
Yet the people of Tonga knew what to do, says Nina Tu’i, the Senior Advisor for the Pacific Disaster Risk Management Programme (DRM) at New Zealand’s National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) – Te Rākau Whakamarumaru.
The Pacific DRM Programme is part of the International Engagements team at NEMA and funded by the New Zealand Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade (MFAT).
It is a four-year programme, with the current Memorandum of Understanding between MFAT and NEMA going to the year 2024.
“The Pacific Programme has been around in various forms for the past 20 years,” Nina explains.
“In the past few years, there has been a lot of intensive preparatory work and training happening across the islands of Tonga led by NEMO, and the limited loss of life and severe injury are a result of the work invested,” she adds.
In February 2018, Cabinet agreed to a refreshed engagement with the Pacific, known as the Pacific Reset.
Included in the Pacific Reset is building deeper partnerships with Pacific Island Countries and ensuring New Zealand Government decision-making on domestic policies considers the implications for the Pacific.
Supporting DRM successfully and respectfully is a pragmatic way for New Zealand to build and maintain its relevance with these countries, minimise humanitarian impacts, support the localisation agenda and reduce Pacific countries’ and New Zealand’s response costs in the Pacific.
Nina says NEMA is part of this integrated New Zealand Inc approach, which maximises collective impact in pursuing the Government’s objectives internationally.
“NEMA remains the relevant government agency to provide ongoing technical expertise and support to our Pacific partners.
“We take our lead from NEMO, who over the years, have built their capacity and have put tools in place to deal with disasters.
“With support from our programme, NEMO had the capacity to conduct its own initial damage assessment process, sending teams to assess all sectors of the community.
“Tonga also had legislative and regulation reviews in place enabling a new cluster response and recovery system, had practiced tsunami training, and issued communications around what to do.
“While the Pacific DRM Programme is unable to change the exposure and vulnerability of countries, it can support with the development of the coping capacities and adaptive capacities,” Nina says.
For Tonga, the Rapid Response Team of specialist Emergency Managers were on stand-by to deploy if NEMO requested their services; and NEMA provided funding support for the implementation of the initial damage assessment process following the eruption.
We have also provided funding support for capability within NEMO to have full time cluster coordinators, who will have critical roles in the ongoing response and recovery efforts, Nina adds.
“Additionally, we’ve provided remote support to develop resources that give food and water advice following the disaster; and other forms of technical support.”
Tonga has been hit with a multi-layered disaster, with ash-fall and tsunami damage, compounded by concurrent events of flooding from severe weather and now COVID-19.
The way in the country responded to the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai eruption shows “maturity” of being able to cope on its own, Nina says.
“It is important to acknowledge what we have been investing in is working – and to respect the autonomy of Tonga’s Government and national agencies.
“It illustrates the Pacific Reset was the way to go.”
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