Surveillance flights finally getting to view damage to Tonga from eruption of huge undersea volcano

Wellington, New Zealand — New Zealand and Australia were able to send military surveillance flights to Tonga on Monday to assess the damage a huge undersea volcanic eruption left in the Pacific island nation.A towering ash cloud since Saturday's eruption had prevented earlier flights. The waves crossed the Pacific, drowning two people in Peru and causing minor damage from New Zealand to Santa Cruz, California.Tsunami advisories issued Saturday for the entire U.S. West Coast and Alaska have since been lifted.Despite warnings from officials to stay away from Northern California beaches, rescue crews pulled five people to safety after they ventured too close to ocean waters churned up by the surge from Saturday's tsunami, CBS San Francisco reported.One complicating factor to any international aid effort is that Tonga has so far managed to avoid any outbreaks of COVID-19. Scientists said tsunamis generated by volcanoes rather than earthquakes are relatively rare.The United Nations Secretary General's Special Envoy for Oceans, Peter Thomson, told CBS News countries were mobilizing support for Tonga and the nearby archipelago of Fiji. He said Tonga, home to 105,000 people, had been in discussions with New Zealand about getting a second international fiber-optic cable to ensure a more robust network but the nation's isolated location made any long-term solution difficult. Rachel Afeaki-Taumoepeau, who chairs the New Zealand Tonga Business Council, said she hoped the relatively low level of the tsunami waves would have allowed most people to get to safety, although she worried about those living on islands closest to the volcano.