# Tonga Disaster **URL:** \ **Category:** Miscellaneous and Personal Stuff I Must Share\ **Created:** [January 18, 2022, 2:30pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995 "2022-01-18T14:30:05Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 12\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![squeegee](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/squeegee/32/14537_2.png) [@squeegee](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/squeegee)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 4:46pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/21 "2022-01-19T16:46:42Z")
> **[Three of Tonga's smaller islands badly damaged by tsunami](https://apnews.com/article/coronavirus-pandemic-health-tonga-red-cross-and-red-crescent-tsunamis-b89c5c17eaa82888374d78e450cffe9f)** > > Three of Tonga’s smaller islands have suffered serious damage from tsunami waves, officials and the Red Cross say, as a wider picture begins to emerge of the destruction caused by the eruption of an undersea volcano near the Pacific archipelago... > [@](#): > > Communications have been down throughout Tonga since the eruption on Saturday, but a ship made it to the outlying islands of Nomuka, Mango and Fonoifua on Wednesday, and reported back that few homes remain standing after settlements were hit with 15-meter (49 feet) -high waves > [@](#): > > In anticipation of the country’s needs, New Zealand has already sent two ships. One is carrying 250,000 liters (66,000 gallons) of water and a desalination plant with the capacity to produce 70,000 more liters (18,492 gallons) per day, and another is bringing a survey and diving team to help assess the damage to shipping channels, ports and wharf infrastructure. > [@](#): > > Meantime, Tonga’s Red Cross, which has about 20 people and 100 trained volunteers, is already distributing shelter kits and other supplies, she said. ---
**Author:** ![snowthx](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowthx/32/10660_2.png) [@snowthx](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/snowthx)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 5:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/22 "2022-01-19T17:18:35Z")
Damn. For a visualization; the tallest [competitive diving platform is 10-meter](https://graphicvisualsolutions.com/portfolio-item/greensboro-aquatic-center-diving-platforms/). That the waves were 5-meters more than that, and knowing a lot of these islands are basically flat, is terrifying. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 8:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/23 "2022-01-19T20:23:46Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > The only thing I know _for certain_ about the Tonga event is that the Dallas Cowboys were not affected by it – if they had been, it would have been the lead story all week. As of yesterday, I’ve not seen a single mention of the Tonga event on local news. Not one. Well, [one of the 12 Tongan players in NFL history](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stephen_Paea) did play for the Cowboys, but he was only there one season (2017) before retiring. So yeah, 2022 Dallas has no interest in Tonga. ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 10:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/24 "2022-01-19T22:14:21Z")
My understanding is that volcanic ash particles are so tiny but so abrasive that it takes very little of it to make a piston engine unusable. And in my specific example, the engine wasn’t IN the plane at the time, it had been shipped from Northern California and was in a shop being rebuilt and the ash got into EVERYTHING because ain’t no shop in the world that airtight unless you have to put on a clean room bunny suit and go through airlocks to get into it. So maybe Intel fabrication rooms might be tight enough to keep ash out but no engine rebuild facilities were at the time and probably aren’t to this day. ---
**Author:** ![Broomstick](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/broomstick/32/246_2.png) [@Broomstick](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Broomstick)\ **Post date:** [January 19, 2022, 10:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/25 "2022-01-19T22:45:03Z")
> [@Machine\_Elf](#): > > > [@SmartAleq](#): > > > > Volcanic ash also plays merry hell with airplane engines so flying stuff in and out (including communication) is problematical AF. Back when Mt St Helens blew its top a coworker had her Cessna engine replaced because it was up in Portland being rebuilt at the time and got so much ash in it they couldn’t rebuild it. > > **[Ash can screw up jet engines pretty well](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/British_Airways_Flight_009)**, but don’t they put air filters on piston engines? Sure. And ash screws up the air filters, choking off the air supply to the engine. And you really don’t want to try to run one without an air filter. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [January 20, 2022, 10:13am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/26 "2022-01-20T10:13:36Z")
I just saw a headline that the first aid flight has landed. That is certainly good news. ---
**Author:** ![Snowboarder\_Bo](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/snowboarder_bo/32/229_2.png) [@Snowboarder\_Bo](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Snowboarder_Bo)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 7:18am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/27 "2022-01-21T07:18:27Z")
Here’s a good three minute video on the relief efforts and survivor stories: [![](https://img.youtube.com/vi/7rX85B1DSzs/maxresdefault.jpg "Relief Reaches Tonga As Harrowing Survival Stories Emerge") ](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7rX85B1DSzs) ---
**Author:** ![CairoCarol](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/cairocarol/32/3825_2.png) [@CairoCarol](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CairoCarol)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 8:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/28 "2022-01-21T08:04:18Z")
> [@pullin](#): > > I watched the local news in DFW every morning since it happened. > The only thing I know _for certain_ about the Tonga event is that the Dallas Cowboys were not affected by it – if they had been, it would have been the lead story all week. As of yesterday, I’ve not seen a single mention of the Tonga event on local news. Not one. Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment … why would you want your local news station to be your source of national/international news? Shouldn’t they focus on the local items, and leave the rest of it to the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters (even Fox News if that floats your boat)? I live in Hawaii and get pretty good local news coverage from the Hawai’i Tribune Herald and Hawai’i Civil Beat. I wouldn’t want either of those sources to dilute their focus on what’s happening locally by attempting to cover the rest of the world. ISTM that it is my responsibility as a consumer of local, national, and international news to find the best sources for all of them, rather than demand that any one source deliver everything. (Though, having said that, I think that HPR, the local affiliate of National Public Radio, does a pretty good job of that.) ---
**Author:** ![panache45](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/panache45/32/64_2.png) [@panache45](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/panache45)\ **Post date:** [January 21, 2022, 11:09am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/29 "2022-01-21T11:09:37Z")
> [@CairoCarol](#): > > Just to play devil’s advocate for a moment … why would you want your local news station to be your source of national/international news? Shouldn’t they focus on the local items, and leave the rest of it to the New York Times, Washington Post, BBC, Reuters (even Fox News if that floats your boat)? This. If you’re watching local news, expect local news. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [January 22, 2022, 1:28am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/30 "2022-01-22T01:28:21Z")
BTW, not long after my post they did update their web page with a situation report. Basically, the main undersea cable was cut at two points and they are sending a repair vessel. They restored international cellular service on 19 January, but the network is congested. The WFP & co have sent satellite terminals, phones, and ground stations. Comms are worse on the outer islands. Anyway, anyone interested can read all about it. ---
**Author:** ![AlsoNamedBort](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/alsonamedbort/32/3213_2.png) [@AlsoNamedBort](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AlsoNamedBort)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:04pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/31 "2022-02-23T16:04:40Z")
Update: > **[Tonga reconnects to world as submarine cable restored after tsunami](https://www.reuters.com/world/asia-pacific/tonga-reconnects-world-submarine-cable-restored-after-tsunami-2022-02-22/)** > > Tonga was reconnected to the world on Tuesday following repairs to a submarine cable, officials said, a month after a volcanic eruption and tsunami cut communications to the remote Pacific island nation. ---
**Author:** ![Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/b77776/32.png) [@Paul\_was\_in\_Saudi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Paul_was_in_Saudi)\ **Post date:** [February 23, 2022, 4:15pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995/32 "2022-02-23T16:15:26Z")
Thank you very much for that. [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/tonga-disaster/957995.md?page=1)