Tonga outbreak: Rugby player Moana Pasifika says ‘it started raining stones’ as he spoke to Tongan family

Hawke’s Bay pro rugby player Solomone Funaki lost contact with his Tongan family during a video call after it ”started to rain rocks”.

The magpie and Moana Pasifika go forward and are fellow Tongan
teammates stick together as they wait to hear from family after the violent eruption of the Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha’apai volcano in Tonga.

Funaki was talking to his family in Nuku’alofa on Saturday when the eruption occurred.

“My father Tiuke Funaki, sisters Lesieli, Akanesi and Ofa Funaki and brothers Mohulamu and Kelepi Funaki, along with my beautiful little four-year-old niece Matila Sii, all stay at Nuku’alofa.”

He said his siblings and father were all video calling when all hell broke loose.

“We were talking when the eruption happened. It started raining rocks and then they were cut off.”

He said the conversation lasted about 30 minutes, but he hasn’t heard from them since.

“We called again, but there was nothing.”

He said the silence made him “quite scared”, but he believed his family was safe.

“My belief that they are safe keeps me motivated, keeps me focused. I also have two children, a four-year-old girl, Bambina, and a two-month-old boy Tiuke, and I’m lucky to have them because they help.”

Funake and fellow Magpies Joe’ Apikotoa and Anzelo Tuitavuki used the uncertainty and memory of the importance of family as motivation to train harder for Moana Pasifika.

“I hope they (his family) get in touch as soon as possible, I wish I could do something. I feel for the other Tongans in Hawke’s Bay, especially the seasonal workers who have left their families behind.

“Big ups to them as they wait to hear from their families, and much love. I hope they are safe.”

Prime Minister Jacinda Ardern said today that Nuku’alofa suffered “significant” damage.

“The tsunami had a significant impact on the waterfront on the north side of Nuku’alofa, with boats and large boulders washed ashore,” Ardern said after contacting the New Zealand embassy in Tonga.

“Nuku’alofa is covered in a thick layer of volcanic dust, but otherwise conditions are calm and stable.”

Tonga needed water, she said, because “the ash cloud has caused contamination.”

There was no word on any damage to the outer islands, but a Defense Force reconnaissance aircraft has been dispatched “to assist with an initial impact assessment of the area and the low-lying islands”.

The Red Cross estimates that 80,000 people may have been affected by the tsunami, and dust from the volcano could contaminate the water supply.

Aid authorities asked people to wear masks and drink bottled water.