Tonga: Building Preparedness for The Next Cyclone

Published: Tue, 15 Sep 2009 14:18:53 GMT

The South Pacific island nation of Tonga has been ranked third-most vulnerable out of 111 countries in a Small States Secretariat study of vulnerability based on the percentage of the population potentially affected by external economic forces, environmental hazards and natural disasters. Between 1997 and 2004, nine cyclones struck Tonga, impacting about 42 percent of the population and costing 14 percent of this small economy’s GDP.


Cyclone Waka in 2001 inflicted losses worth about US$48 million, damaging 1,500 homes, 25 schools, agricultural and fishery industries, water and power supplies, telecommunications and government property, including wharves and jetties.


The Cyclone Emergency Recovery and Management Project set out to help Tonga recover from these disasters through the rehabilitation of social infrastructure facilities in the most damaged areas and to strengthen and upgrade the country’s emergency and risk-management capacity to weather future storms.


The project provided the most-seriously affected communities with improved housing and community facilities while also strengthening Tonga’s national resilience and disaster management preparedness.

Highlights:
- Forty-two community halls were repaired or reconstructed.

- Four hundred seventy cyclone-resistant houses were built, using a Ministry of Works design patterned on housing constructed in the wake of another severe storm 20 years earlier that successfully weathered Cyclone Waka.

- Three hundred sixty-eight cyclone-damaged houses were repaired and refurbished.

- Reliable drinking water supplies were provided to 51 households.

- Twenty-eight households received improved sanitation facilities.

- A new Building Code was enacted to improve cyclone resilience.

- A National Emergency Management Bill to mitigate damage from cyclones was drafted, approved and is now being implemented, including a new building code, monitoring and enforcement systems, and disaster preparedness drills.

- A National Disaster Management Office was established to help the country respond more effectively to cyclone emergencies.

- Land information systems were updated so the government can better identify public and private property and monitor particularly vulnerable areas over time.

- Public preparedness and simulation exercises were implemented so staff could practice rapid field processing of property damage and injury data after a cyclone, to raise public awareness of what to do in an emergency, and to test the reliability of communications systems.


Total project cost was US$7.12 million, of which IDA provided US$6.12 million.


AusAID provided US$0.37 million to help finance reconstruction of 30 destroyed housing units. The European Commission provided US$0.63 million to provide 50 water supply and sanitation units for the new cyclone-resistant houses.


Despite some initial difficulties, Tonga is providing technical assistance to help housing beneficiaries properly maintain their homes in readiness for natural disasters. With support from several regional and bilateral partners, it is also taking steps to ensure compliance with the revised building codes and to improve its capacity to reduce disaster risks and adapt to climate change.


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