The village on the other shore

An eruption with two scales

The Hunga volcanic system lies northwest of ʻAtata. In December 2021 it began reshaping the small volcanic island above its vent. On 15 January 2022 a much larger eruption threw a plume high into the atmosphere and generated a tsunami. Satellites followed the plume and instruments recorded pressure waves far from Tonga. Near the volcano, the measures that mattered were smaller and more urgent: how far a wave travelled inland, which buildings stood, and where a person could reach higher ground.

Field researchers found that neighbouring shores could experience very different effects. The height reached by the water depended on the shape of each coast as well as the waves that reached it. The World Bank assessment identified ʻAtata and Mango among the islands with nearly complete destruction. It describes damage to homes, wharves, water supplies and communications across Tonga. A destroyed wharf could cut access at the moment when an island needed it most.

Ashfall created a separate problem. On islands that rely on catching rain from roofs, ash can affect the water supply even at a house the waves never reached. Local relief accounts describe pressure on bottled and refill water. Recovery required attention to the things between homes as much as to the buildings themselves.

The first crossing

ʻAtata’s residents were evacuated to Tongatapu. Some went to extended family, others stayed in communal accommodation while arrangements for new homes were made. Households that had shared the same boat routes and village institutions were now spread among temporary addresses. The need for shelter came first, followed by the slower work of finding new sources of income and arranging a permanent home.

The community hall on ʻAtata survived and was used during clean-up. Before the tsunami it had hosted the affairs of village life. Afterwards it served a different need. On Tongatapu, the evacuation began as a response to immediate danger. Finding a new place to live took longer.

A village takes a related name

The new settlement was established near Masilamea in western Tongatapu on land allocated by the royal estate. In early 2023 it was officially named ʻAtatā Siʻi. The name kept the relationship with the old island in everyday use. When a University of Waikato team visited in April 2023, some families were in newly built houses. Others were still staying with relatives or in a church hall. The same community could be resettled on paper while individual households were still waiting.

In January 2024, ABC returned with members of the Folau family to ʻAtata. The report records their attachment to the island and the practical differences of the new setting. A family that could once catch fish close to home was now living on a road on Tongatapu. That road connected them to shops and jobs. It also changed the terms on which they could live from the sea. Some former residents returned briefly to the old island to visit or fish.

What a new address needs

In the new village, reconstruction meant more than counting roofs. Tonga’s 2024–2025 budget describes continuing work on housing and non-residential buildings for relocated communities. A separate 2024 project involved local and international partners working on household biogas systems. These efforts address different parts of settling into a place.

The community’s 2025–2028 plan records priorities in the words and decisions of working groups. It describes the need for reliable water storage, livelihood support and shared infrastructure. One group identified more tanks for the community water supply as its highest priority. This is the scale at which a reconstruction takes hold: what a household can rely on when it turns on a tap, or what a group of neighbours can arrange together. The story that began with waves crossing a low island continues in those decisions.