Prepare a guide for coastal landowners in

Tonga to help them understand & reduce

tsunami risks on their homes and/or
businesses.

Prepared by Sitaleki Tomu Filikitonga (S120092923)

Teacher Asinate Tolutau
Course 5108
Submitted on 20/30/2024
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT
Firstly, I give thanks to the Almighty God for his unconditional love, merciful
care, and the life that he gave so that I could still be in this moment in life to
complete this report. Special thanks to my teacher Miss ‘Asinate Toluta’u for
teaching us with useful resources, information, and leading us on how to
write a good report. For those of you that I have interviewed and answered
my questionnaire I thank you all for your time and the information you have
given, it was very useful for my report. Lastly to all of you my fellow class
mates and friends, thank you for your help and support for it was very
much appreciated, words cannot explain how thankful I am but I pray the
Heavenly Father will continue loving and caring for you all.

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 TABLE OF CONTENT
Section Page
I. Acknowledgement 1
II. Table of content 2
1. Executive Summary 3
2. Introduction 4
3. Term of reference 5
4. Procedure 6
5. Findings 7
6. Conclusion 8-9
7. Recommendation 10-11
8. Reference 12

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 1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
The purpose of this report is based on ways that have been prepared that
can help to reduce the risk of tsunami to coastal landowners. Coastal
landowners must understand the risk a tsunami can cause and from that
understanding they can manage to survive in the of tsunami. I hope when
you finish reading this report you would know what the risk can affect and
how you can reduce it from the guide that I have prepared in this report.
This report has 10 risks in my finding section and in the conclusion, with
those 10 risks I have made my own explanation as to why I think that those
risks exist in each point. The recommendation is an answer for the risk and
about how to reduce it.

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 2. INTRODUCTION
A day that had come once in a hundred years, the 15th of January 2022 that
has never been forgotten by most people. The volcanic eruption of Hunga
Tonga and Hunga Ha’apai formed up a tsunami that has caused huge
damages on some islands in the Ha’apai group and ‘Atata island and the
village of Kanokupolu. This was the first time for most people here in Tonga
to observe a tsunami.
On the Findings section you will find there the risks that affected the people.
The conclusion is about my own view to those risks and in my gathering of
information for how to reduce those risk I wrote it in the recommendation.
There were difficulties that I have faced in my report which was that it was
hard to find someone here in our village that directly faced the difficulties
and was a direct witness in the tsunami so I had gone and searched to get a
special person to do my interview. Also, writing this report was my first time
so it was very hard to understand how to write it. Apologies if there are
mistakes in my grammar or punctuation, I am very poor in writing in
English.

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 3. TERMS OF REFERENCE
On Wednesday 6 of March 2024 ‘Asinate Toluta’u, the teacher of our class
informed us to write a report, prepare a guide for coastal landowners in
Tonga to help them understand & reduce the tsunami risks on their homes
and/or businesses.
This report has 2-part, the first part was a plan and it was due on Monday
11th March 2024 and the second part is a written report which is due 18 th
March 2024.

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 4. PROCEDURE
Information was collected by

4.1 Interviewing people that have witnessed the tsunami that

happened in Tonga on the 15th of January 2022.
4.2 Questionnaires given to those that have faced any risks on the
15th of January 2022 during the tsunami in Tonga.
4.3 Research on the internet for relevant articles, books, journal
that was writen about any risk of tsunami.

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 5. FINDINGS
5.1 Coastal flooding in the low land area.

5.2 Types of the houses destroyed easily in the coastal area.

5.3 Houses are destroyed leads families to homeless.

5.4 Emotional damage and stress to children’s mind especially

those has an eye witnesses the tsunami.
5.5 Loss of life and injuries for the people that have panic and
cannot escape because some of them do not learn how to
survived in this kind of hazard.
5.6 Damage affects commercial buildings.

5.7 Soil erosion and landslide.

5.8 In a time of evacuation before the tsunami some people are

stuck because traffic or road damage so they cannot run fast to
the safety zone and some people are in huge buildings which
they cannot escape on time because there’s not enough space
for escaping.
5.9 Water pollution.

5.10 People have been escaping on time to a safe place but they do
not have food and supplies during the period of tsunami.

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 6. CONCLUSION
6.1 Coastal flooding in the low land area.
6.1.1 Flooding from raining is different from flooding caused by a
tsunami. When the left-over sea floods in the lowland area that
has come up with sea creatures that end up dying on land.
When the flood dries out those dead sea creatures begin to
smell bad we breathe it in which may cause some diseases.
6.2 Types of the houses destroyed easily in the coastal
area.
6.2.1 All types of houses are designed in different forms for a
different type of natural hazard. That is where leads to lots of
damage here in Tonga because there are types of houses that a
tsunami can destroy easily and is built on the coastal area to
face the tsunami.
6.3 Houses are destroyed leads families to homeless.
6.3.1 Homeless is one of the major problems because it is can also
cause different risks in the time of homelessness like hunger,
and staying in the cold with no shelter.
6.4 Emotional damage and stress to children’s mind
especially those has an eye witnesses the tsunami.
6.4.1 Children is our priority to care about in the time of a tsunami.
This is a risk I have observed after the tsunami happened here
in Tonga. There was a little girl in our home after the tsunami
and she always talked about the tsunami and was very afraid
and would always cry when she is reminded of the incident.
6.5 Loss of life and injuries for the people that have
panic and cannot escape because some of them do
not learn how to survived in this kind of hazard.
6.5.1 What we do not understand and know about tsunami makes it
harder for us to know what to do in the time of a tsunami. Many
people have lost their lives and got injured because they did not
know where to run to and what to do.
6.6 Damage affects commercial buildings.
6.6.1 Huge buildings are dangerous if you are there in the time of the
danger. When the buildings collapse the people near that area
would be in danger because they could get squashed in the
building while it collapses.
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 6.7 Soil erosion and landslide.
6.7.1 Soil can wash over to the sea when the waves back flow to the
ocean and high area slides down to the low area. This risk
caused road damage and damage to crops and agriculture
6.8 In a time of evacuation before the tsunami some
people are stuck because traffic or road damage so
they cannot run fast to the safety zone and some
people are in huge buildings which they cannot
escape on time because there’s not enough space
for escaping.
6.8.1 Evacuation here in Tonga can cause traffic to the main road as
we know here in Tonga there’s only one main road and some
people have escaped on the other roads but they were still stuck
there because of road damage. Also, the same thing happened
to people in a large building for there were no evacuation plans
for them to escape.
6.9 Water pollution.
6.9.1 Sea water has been mixed up with our underground water that
we use for cooking, bathing, etc, which can affect our health
and hygiene. It can also damage our water tanks so that the
rain water we store for drinking becomes salty.
6.10 People have been escaping on time to a safe place
but they do not have food and supplies during the
period of tsunami.
6.10.1 People have escaped to safety but they were not careful to
prepare some food, water, and supplies so that when they
evacuated from their homes, they suffered in hunger together
with the wounded before any help could get there.

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 7. RECOMMENDATIONS
7.1 According to Catalina and Hale, 2021, “Adding slopes, ditches
or angled walls in affected areas, tsunamis can be redirected
away from people or reduce the chance of flooding.” (page 1)
7.2 According to Catalina and Hale, 2021, “Structures can also be
designed with slits for the water to flow through instead of the
water pooling and causing major damage.” (page 1)
7.3 According to Catalina and Hale, 2021, “If citizens know where
evacuation centres and shelters are, it can help ensure that
more people get to safety in a shorter period and reduces the
amount of lost or injured people. (page 1)
7.4 Saves the Children, 2024.
Allow children to express their feelings after the tsunami.

Listen carefully, show understanding, and offer reassurance.

Remind them that the situation is not permanent, and their

safety is your utmost priority.

7.5 Jihad and Muksin, 2024.

One of them is the establishment of a tsunami early

warning system. The system consists of four integrated

elements: monitoring and warning, information

dissemination, tsunami disaster risk education, and

community preparedness and awareness of disaster risk

[4]. Tsunami modelling has been carried out to determine

the estimated arrival times and amplitudes along coastal

areas in Indonesia.

7.6 Catalina and Hale, 2021.

Additionally, the government should be held responsible

for researching and coming up with the most effective,

tsunami resistant building design for the affected area,

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 whether it be: materials like reinforced concrete or

structural adjustments such as a steel frame.

7.7 Bjorklund (2024) suggest This is why plants are essential for
preventing soil erosion. Deep-rooted plants are the greatest at
stopping erosion because their roots stabilize the soil's
underlying layers. It can be challenging to discover plants that
can withstand the extreme circumstances found on a California
cliff.
7.8 In my Interview, Transportation needs to show instruction to
the safety zone. And the road to the safety zone should be
extend to 3 or more to reduce traffic. Also ensure the road is
100 percent good without any problem that can causes a
slowing down due to some road damage. Every building must
draw the tsunami evacuation plans and post on every wall to
show how the direction to exit outside from the building.
7.9 Bottled, boiled, or treated water is safe to use for drinking,
cooking, and personal hygiene. Water sources may get tainted
by saltwater following a tsunami. Specific instructions for
boiling or treating water in your location might be found from
your local authorities.
7.10 People should be always stay prepared. They must provide or
have in place a special bag called 72 hours (3days) meaning
within that hours they survive in whatever places. Which is
always filled with food, water, and some supplies that he will
during the tsunami. When they heard the warning all they do is
picking up the bag and go to the safety zone. And its helps to
avoid stress and panic in looking for something to left with.

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 8. REFERENCES
 The Most Effective Ways to Protect from Tsunamis (arcgis.com)
 https://books.google.to/books?
hl=en&lr=&id=vfOdDwAAQBAJ&oi=fnd&pg=PA1&dq=tsunami+and+ho
melessness+books&ots=ea_B4nmVWC&sig=wA49wxu-
_sq4DNQ99jOaURxQYwM&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q&f=false
 Interview: Kaufoou Vave
: Moana Latu
 Tsunami Safety Tips | Save the Children
 Tsunami risk research on coastal areas in Fujian Province, China |
Semantic Scholar
 Coastal and settlement typologies-based tsunami modeling along the
northern Sumatra seismic gap zone for disaster risk reduction action
plans - ScienceDirect
 https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/
S2590061719300092#s0020
 Studying the impact of tsunamis on coastal areas (radix-marine.com)
 Three Ways to Reduce Soil Erosion and Landslide Risk | Diamond
Certified
 Are current tsunami evacuation approaches safe enough? | Stochastic
Environmental Research and Risk Assessment (springer.com)
 Interview: Lisa Ann
 Water Quality After a Tsunami | CDC
 Tsunami_Impacts_on_Shallow_Groundwater.pdf
 How to Prepare for a Tsunami: A Guide + Checklist
(crisisequipped.com)
 Questionnaire

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