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Thousands of people in Tonga have been cut off from the rest of the world for days.
The first plane carrying relief supplies landed in the island nation on Thursday, five days after Tonga was hit by a volcanic eruption and tsunami.
The infrastructure in large parts of Tonga is still not restored.
Volcanic ash covers the landscape, roads and buildings.
Communication by phone has been possible again since Wednesday.
But it could be several weeks before the internet works again.
The volcanic eruption damaged the only undersea cable, and the electricity keeps going out.
Only recently have videos and eyewitness accounts been transmitted from the island via satellite.
Mariam Kupu, Tongan journalist:
“The first explosion made our ears ring and we couldn't even hear each other. So we tried to get our families to understand: get up, get ready to run! (...)
Now everyone here is busy dusting off the roofs and trees and offices. What worries us now is clean drinking water. Because a large part of our tap water is polluted by dust and ash. With our food supplies we will probably be able to survive in the next few weeks. But we hope that pork imports will return to normal after this disruption.”
The planes mainly brought chemicals for the treatment of drinking water for the approximately 100,000 inhabitants of Tonga.
The runway at Fua'amotu Airport had to be cleared of a thick layer of ash for days, some by hand.
A New Zealand container ship with 250,000 liters of drinking water is also scheduled to arrive in Tonga on Friday.
The eruption of an underwater volcano last weekend triggered a several meter high Tsnumai.
Several islands of the Tonga archipelago were partially destroyed, at least three people died.
According to the United Nations, more than 80 percent of Tonga's residents have been severely affected by the natural disaster.
Due to a lack of hygiene facilities, the fear of diseases is now increasing.
Tonga has been spared the coronavirus since the outbreak of the pandemic.
In order to prevent the virus from being introduced, the rescue workers deposited the relief supplies without contact with the residents.