SUVA, Feb. 15 (Xinhua) — The powerful eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga on Jan. 15 and its aftermath has caused an estimated sum of 90.4 million U.S. dollars in damage, a World Bank disaster assessment report said.
The damage is equivalent to about 18.5 percent of Tonga’s gross domestic product, noted the report, which is the first such assessment published following the Tonga disaster, Tonga’s news website Matangi Tonga Online reported Tuesday.
An estimated 85,000 people across the island nation have been affected by the volcanic eruption, the tsunami and the ashfall. Tonga’s main island of Tongatapu recorded the greatest damage of about 69 million dollars.
Damage varied significantly across the country, the report suggested, as islands including Atata and Mango were almost destroyed, while the Vava’u island group experienced minimal damage from ashfall.
The report provided estimates of direct damage to residential buildings, non-residential buildings, infrastructure, agriculture, forestry, fishing, and ashfall clean-up.
Broader economic losses, such as ongoing impacts on agriculture and tourism, are not reflected in the report and are expected to significantly increase the overall economic impact.
About 600 structures in total, including at least 300 residential buildings, have been damaged or destroyed by the tsunami waves in the island nation, with an estimated 43.7 million dollars worth of damage.
Many tourism businesses were particularly hard hit — with accommodation, wharves and workers’ homes destroyed or severely damaged.
The World Bank has provided an immediate 8 million dollars in emergency funding to Tonga to ensure adequate resources to re-establish basic services and help the Tongan families most affected.
Meanwhile, the United Nations Pacific office is urging the international community to keep up support for Tonga and help it build back stronger after the volcanic eruption and tsunami.
Sanaka Samarasinha, UN resident coordinator responsible for Tonga, praised on Tuesday the initial response from the international community, saying that there is still a long way to recovery ahead.
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