Thousands of Tongans were affected when Tropical Cyclone Gita tore through the country on February 12.

Officials said the Category 4 cyclone impacted 70 percent of the population on the main island of Tongatapu and more than 1,000 homes were destroyed or damaged.

Clean-up efforts are under way with disaster response organisations and government agencies doing assessments and distributing relief items.

Local communities have rallied around each other to support aid and recovery efforts.