A fundraising campaign is under way to help families in Tonga rebuild their homes wrecked by Cyclone Gita.
One of many homes destroyed by Cyclone Gita in Tonga Photo: Ke Leka
More than 2000 homes were damaged and hundreds more were completely destroyed when the storm hit the Pacific nation in February.
The cyclone hit a little too close to home for the Building and Construction Minister, Jenny Salesa.
Her elderly parents were living in Tonga at the time.
"It was a really worrying time, people saying 'our house has crumbled around us ... help ... help'," she said.
The minister is backing a campaign to get $1 million to repair, and in some cases fully rebuild, 500 homes in Tonga.
It's being driven by Habitat for Humanity, which has already built cyclone-proof houses in New Zealand and Samoa, and now has its eyes on Tonga.
Chief executive Claire Szabo said it won't be able to repair them all.
"Over 2000 houses have been damaged significantly ... hundreds have been destroyed completely ... so that's a very very large proportion of the stock," she said.
She said about half of the $1m has already been raised but it needs help to get the rest.
Claire Szabo said that would include money from the community and businesses lending financial support, tools and tradespeople.
The affected Tongan families will also be trained up to help in the rebuild effort.
Non-profit organisation Caritas said while repairs have begun on devastated Tongan houses, it would be slow progress to get back to normal.
