An ash cloaked runway is hampering relief efforts, as the true scale of the damage from then volcanic eruption and tsunami becomes clear.
An underwater volcano erupted on Saturday, showering Tonga with ash and triggering a tsunami.
There have been attempts by New Zealand to send clean drinking water as well as other supplies, but these attempts have failed since planes cannot land at the main airport.
According to a BBC report some of Tonga’s small outlying islands have suffered substantial damage.
Two people have been reported dead, but with communications limited there are fears the true toll could be higher.
Tonga is made up of more than 170 islands scattered over an area of the South Pacific roughly the size of Japan. Just over 100,000 people live in Tonga, the bulk of them on the main island of Tongatapu.
