VIDEO: The deserted islands of Tonga
MARIAN KUPU, REPORTER: Sundays are about two things in Tonga - cooking food and worship.
For Tolofi Folau, church looks a bit different these days. This tent church was put up almost two years ago after hundreds of Tongans were displaced.
TOLOFI FOLAU: When I was staying at home, we saw the sea, it's not normal.
MARIAN KUPU: In January 2022, Hunga Tonga–Hunga Haʻapai volcano erupted - more powerful than an atomic bomb. Scientists say it was the biggest natural explosion of the past 100 years.
Thick ash spread across Tonga, but it was the resulting tsunamis that caused the most damage. Waves reached as high as 45 metres.
Tolofi tried to get to higher ground
TOLOFI FOLAU: I saw a big wave come. Yeah, and I didn't know that we will be, whether all we alive or not.
MARIAN KUPU: Three people died; hundreds of homes were destroyed. It wiped out whole islands including Tolofi’s home, Atata Island.
TOLOFI FOLAU: I feel emotional because we didn’t believe that we will be (translated) that our little island would be in this situation. We thought we would live here forever.
MARIAN KUPU: Today Tolofi is heading home for only the second time since the disaster. She’s only allowed back as a visitor.
After the tsunami, the island was abandoned, and residents were relocated to the mainland.
TOLOFI FOLAU: Before the tsunami, we built, that’s the kitchen on that side, the kitchen and then the bathroom and then the living room here.
MARIAN KUPU: She says her children miss island life.
TOLOFI FOLAU: It's very difficult because we don't know where to get the money from but in here, if we need money, we get money from the from the sea. We go fishing, get money on one day and to the resort, we’re going there and work there, get some money on the week.
MARIAN KUPU: She says local authorities told her it’s not safe for her and her family to return permanently.
TOLOFI FOLAU: If we will have another problem like the hurricanes or something like that, the sea will be in this area. So they said it's better to us to live in the mainland. Not to come in back here.
MARIAN KUPU: Tolofi’s home was one of three major island communities displaced after the tsunami. The land is owned by Tonga’s monarchy.
QUEEN NANASIPAU’U, THE KINGDOM OF TONGA: The old people said, "This is our home. Who's going to look after the dead? This is where we were brought up, how can we leave our homes?"
And I said, "We will have land for you because we might have another tsunami, you never know."
MARIAN KUPU: The royal family offered new land for affected communities away from disaster prone areas.
QUEEN NANASIPAU’U: The government, they all looked at the situation and decided that the best thing for them is to move and all their homes were destroyed. So even if they build again, there might be another tsunami, gone again.
MARIAN KUPU: Tonga’s government says it has plans to build 268 new homes in these new communities. So far 120 have been completed
It says land issues and a skills shortage have contributed to delays.
SEVENITINI TOUMOUA, TONGA’S INFRASTRUCTURE MINISTER: We have some challenges along the way. We’re expecting that works to be completed by June 2024.
MARIAN KUPU: While people wait, some in new communities are still living in tents.
LUPE ‘AKAUOLA (translated): We feel abandoned. It’s summer and the heat from the sun is very hot. When its windy, rainy, when it rains the floor is soaking wet.
I guess us adult is okay, but the kids and the elders.
MARIAN KUPU: Lupe grew up on Atata Island. She says tropical cyclones and flooding were becoming more frequent and severe.
LUPE ‘AKAUOLA (translated): We were told not to go back to the island. I know it’s safer for us to stay here especially to my kids and mother.
MARIAN KUPU: She says she hasn’t heard from authorities about her accommodations.
LUPE ‘AKAUOLA (translated): The people living in tents haven't been told anything.
If a house will be built for us, or even to tell us whether we will get a piece of land to build on.
MARIAN KUPU: Tonga’s government says it is prioritising citizens whose homes were destroyed but it says it is committed to building homes for everyone displaced.
Despite the promise of new housing, for many, being displaced from their home islands has been hard to accept.
TOLOFI FOLAU: We can't forget the place in the island, our home in the islands. We will never forget that.
Today marks two years since a volcanic explosion turned the skies above Tonga black and triggered a destructive tsunami. The power of the eruption stunned scientists across the world and as a result some of Tonga's residents are still living in tents while some islands might be abandoned forever.
The ABC's Tonga reporter Marian Kupu has the story.