A frantic search is underway in the hopes of finding a missing British woman who was swept away after Saturdays tsunami in Tonga.
Angela Glover was swept away whilst her and her husband were looking for shelter from 4ft high waves battering the west coast of Tongatapu, the main island of tonga.
Angela managed a tattoo parlour and ran her own dog sanctuary in the capital of Tonga, Nuku’alofa. She has not been seen since the tsunami hit the island.
Whilst Angela was swept away by the waves, her husband James managed to stay clung to a tree.
Her tearful brother, Nick Eleini told a reporter from the Guardian that he fears for his sister’s life, saying, “I don’t think this is going to be a happy ending.”
Nick also told reporters that his sister had been washed away whilst out dog walking.
Five dogs were washed away with her.
Angela and her husband were house sitting on the west coast of the island at the time of the tsunami.
The police and the British Embassy were contacted by James when Angela did not return home.
Since search efforts began, one of Angela’s dogs has been found however there is still no sign of Angela.
A friend of the family told the BBC that –
“We are hoping and praying that amongst the devastation, she is found.”
Mr Eleini is flying in to the UK from Australia to provide support to his mother who lives here.
The cause of the tsunami was the underwater volcano Hung Tonga Hunga Ha’apai. This volcano erupted at 5:10pm local time on Saturday, causing the huge waves to wash over the island.
Scary satellite images revealed the moments of the eruption, which triggered a tsunami warning from a number of the South Pacific Island nations.
The terrified residents said at the time of the tsunami, it was dark in parts of Tonga following the eruption of the volcano. Many of the locals were rushing to the higher ground for safety for fear of being swept away by the oncoming waves.
One woman revealed how she was preparing her families dinner when the eruption of Hung Tonga Hunga Ha’apai shook her home. Another island resident spoke of how he carried his grandmother to the roof of their home in order to get to safety.
The Australia Bureau of Meteorology has said that the initial eruption of the volcano which is located roughly 40 miles north of Nuku’alofa, triggered a 7.4 magnitude earthquake which caused the 1.2 metre high tsunami.
The eruption was so violent that it was likened to the sound of thunder in Fiji, located more than 500 miles away from Tonga.
The volcano lies about 40 miles north of the Tongan capital of Nuku’alofa. In late 2014 and early 2015 a series of eruptions in the area created new islands and also disrupted international air travel between the Pacific Archipelago for several days.
About 105,000 reside in Tonga today.
