A member of Katherine's Tongan community has not been able to contact her family since last week's volcanic explosion forced them to evacuate their home village.
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The underwater volcano erupted on Saturday, about 65km (40 miles) north of the capital Nuku'alofa.
The eruption, which was heard as far away as the US, caused waves higher than a metre to crash into Tonga.
Lima Bolton is from Tongan seaside village of Ma'ufanga, but now lives in Katherine with her son and husband. However, most of her siblings still live in Tonga.
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Mrs Bolton said she had brief contact with family members in Ma'ufanga on Saturday before the Tsunami hit, but has not heard from them since after the disaster cut off communications in Tonga.
"We [spoke] on Saturday, that was the last time we were talking. And since then there is nothing," she said.
"They had to leave home. We very close to the beach [now] it's underwater. I just saw some photos on Facebook, Ma'ufanga is under water.
"I'm not too sure where they end up but just hoped that they would get there in time before the wave came."
She said she has been extremely worried waiting for word from her family.
"Some people got lucky to just [have] a quick video call just to see and see the waves coming," Mrs Bolton said.
"[For] some of us it was probably better not to see.
"But at the same time, you know, there's hope as well."
Australia and New Zealand have both sent surveillance flights over Tonga to assess the damage and deliver crucial supplies to people on the ground.
Australia's minister for the Pacific, Zed Seselja, said initial reports suggest no mass casualties in Tonga, but Australian police have visited beaches with significant damage.
Tonga's deputy head of mission in Australia, Curtis Tu'ihalangingie, asked for patience as Tonga's government decided its priorities for aid.
He said there is concern that deliveries made to the island from overseas could bring COVID-19 to Tonga, which has been largely able to avoid the virus.
Mrs Bolton said the Darwin Tongan Community Group is working to start a relief effort for Territorians who want to help Tonga.
"I think the Darwin community is already looking into that," she said.
"It's a hard time everywhere with COVID and everything, everyone's suffering.
"We just have to keep hope that we'll get through this."
The Darwin Tonga Community Group is holding a prayer vigil at 6.30pm on January 21 at the Darwin Memorial Uniting Church on Smith Street.
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