Tropical Cyclone Gita has wreaked havoc in Tonga overnight. Winds of over 233km/h ripped roofs off houses, brought down trees, destroyed a Catholic church, and took the Tongan Met Office and the national radio station off line.
Managing editor of news website Matangi Tonga, Mary Fonua, was at her home in Nuku'alofa when the storm hit and tells Morning Report it was "a very rough night".
"We are just opening the doors now and looking outside, to see the horror of what used to be the garden, and the neighbour's roof's gone and there's all kinds of debris all over the place.
"My big mango tree at the back looks like a bomb site now. Big trees have been snapped. You know, this is a 100 year old tree."
She told Morning Report she hadn't seen a storm like Gita in decades.
