All homes on one of Tonga's islands destroyed, three dead

FILE PHOTO: An eruption occurs at the underwater volcano Hunga Tonga-Hunga Ha'apai off Tonga, January 14, 2022 in this screen grab obtained from a social media video. Video recorded January 14, 2022. Tonga Geological Services/via REUTERS

SYDNEY/WELLINGTON (Reuters) -All the homes on one of Tonga's small outer islands have been destroyed by a massive volcanic eruption and tsunami, with three people so far confirmed dead, the government said on Tuesday in its first update since the disaster struck.

With communications https://tmsnrt.rs/3qzVPyy badly hampered by the severing of an undersea cable https://www.reuters.com/markets/funds/undersea-cable-fault-could-cut-off-tonga-rest-world-weeks-2022-01-18, information on the scale of the devastation after Saturday's eruption had so far mostly come from reconnaissance aircraft.