Cyclone Harold in Tonga
Tropical Cyclone Harold continued its destructive path by hitting the island of Tonga. Harold had previously tracked across Vanuatu and Fiji. The island of Tonga declared a state of emergency and warned residents to take shelter.
Cyclone Harold gained strength after passing across Fiji hitting Tonga as a category 5 storm with wind speeds of over 150mph.
Power has been cut in parts of Tonga and several tourist areas have been completely destroyed. The Red Cross Vanuatu Secretary-General reported that many buildings and crops have been destroyed and some people in the most-affected areas have lost everything.
The COVID-19 pandemic has caused problems with relief efforts as Vanuatu, Fiji and Tonga are reluctant to open borders which could compromise coronavirus containment efforts.
- Type of event
- Other
- Location of event
- Tonga
- Date of Charter Activation
- 2020-04-09
- Time of Charter Activation
- 22:34
- Time zone of Charter Activation
- UTC+02:00
- Charter Requestor
- UNITAR on behalf of United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) | Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP))
- Activation ID
- 649
- Project Management
- UNITAR/UNOSAT
- Value Adding
- -