Leone, day after the tsunami

Our 12-year-old daughter waited patiently (okay, not so patiently) for over a day and a half to see any sign of the earthquake and tsunami. We were so lucky to be safe in our valley. I decided it was important for her to see first hand, as she had already seen so much in pictures on the internet and television. We waited until afternoon when we wouldn't be bothering work crews, and we headed to the less traffic-congested west side of the island.

The drive to Leone is one we had done numerous times together, just me and Emma. We had a post office box there for over two years and I have many fond memories of the two of us driving out there with excitement to collect our packages. The drive to Leone seemed to take forever this time. We drove down the last hill into Leone to complete devastation.The post office was still standing and compared to other houses, standing strong, just without the actual mail boxes. The gapping hole in the side is where my box was and the second picture is the inside. Mail was strewn everywhere.
The bridge that connected the many villages on the west side washed away in the tsunami. Crews (directed by our friend at McConnell Dowell construction) thankfully temporarily repaired the bridge by evening time on the day of the tsunami. I can't imagine what people went through that day without having access to the hospital and the rest of the island.

We didn't travel the whole west side, but we did see a couple of the villages beyond Leone. The village of Asili was hit very hard. More houses were gone than standing and those standing did not look livable.This foundation was a shop in Asili run by a Korean family who lived in the upstairs. The family had two daughters, one was my student when I taught school. Tragically, she and her mother were inside when the tsunami hit. She was an amazing student with a bright future. She was Emma's age.Another empty foundation...
It was hard to see so many homes destroyed. I witnessed more stores and other buildings damaged in Pago Pago, but on the west side of the island there were so many people living right on the ocean.The force of the water to move vehicles, shipping containers, concrete is unbelievable.Emma said she felt better seeing the tsunami aftermath. I know she worries and reality is sometimes better than our imaginations. Now she is more eager than ever to assist. She is donating just about everything she owns and I couldn't be prouder. It hasn't always been easy for Emma living here for nearly four years, especially at the present time, but I know she is going to shine wherever life takes her.

What you can do to help...

I have been receiving messages from people in the mainland U.S. who want to donate money and/or supplies to American Samoa. Unfortunately, that level of organization is just beginning. Thankfully, there are many local efforts in place. Schools, churches, radio stations and banks are holding drives to collect clothing, food, water, money. Samoans are very communal people and victims are being taken in by other family and friends. People are truly helping each other.

I asked one woman today who lost her house and entire possessions what she needed and her response was, "oh, nothing. we're fine." Seriously, this woman and her family need everything. They have no beds, no clothing except for what they were wearing at the time of the tsunami, no food, no drinking water... nothing, she has nothing. Yet, she asks for nothing because the other people in her family and village are taking care of her.

8 National Park staff and their families lost their homes in the tsunami. The Hawaii Natural History Association has set up a fund for people to donate. Currently, the way to do that is to mail checks (write "NPSA employee disaster relief fund" on your check) to:

Hawaii Natural History Association
attn: Margo
Hawaii National Park
P.O. Box 74
Hawaii 96718

I will post on the blog as soon as I know where people can donate to the larger relief efforts, outside of helping the National Park families. I know a number of you want to donate by way of sending money or care packages directly to American Samoa, but I don't think that is currently a feasible option. In the meantime, you could make a donation to the Red Cross through their website to support their relief effort here and elsewhere.

The first group of U.S. Red Cross workers are arriving today. We are hopeful they will help coordinate individual efforts on the island. Many people working in the trenches are frustrated by the lack of coordination at this point. I, personally, am frustrated by feelings of not being able to help enough. Emma and I are organizing all of our clothing to donate rather than the moving sale we had planned on. Tomorrow, my wonderful friend is supporting the efforts by watching my kids and I am going to go help the National Park crews clean up in the villages. I feel some good physical labor will help me.

When will it end?

We just felt another aftershock at about 7:45 pm tonight (Wednesday -- that's a full day and a half past the big earthquake and tsunami). I feel my heart stopping with every aftershock. I think it is especially hard on Emma and the other children who fear another big one.

It turns out that there have been 52 earthquakes in our area the past two days! This map from the USGS earthquake center shows them all, with each one registering 5.o to 6.0 on the Reichter scale. The red one is the most recent one we just felt less than a half hour ago. We have obviously not felt all 52 of these, but enough to keep us all on edge.

I have so much more to write and pictures to post, but exhaustion is setting up. Both girls were awake last night at various times. I hope to get more up soon on the blog between my fulltime gig as a mom and keeping up on my emails and phone calls. Today we saw the devastation on the other side of the island (Leone and surrounds) and it is just as bad as Pago Pago. Paul spent his day assisting in the efforts in Pago, including scuba diving to look for victims on a yacht that sunk and setting up cell phone and internet connections at a secondary National Park site. Some help from the US has already arrived and we are expecting much more tomorrow.

Here is another map from the USGS showing the full extent of the water generated from the tsunami. You can't really make out our islands, but we are NE of New Zealand, just above the red area.

Tsunami in American Samoa

This morning we experienced the strongest earthquake to date living on the island. Our kitchen cupboards were rattling, ceiling fans were swaying, and items were falling off shelves. Typically, we feel very subtle quakes that leave one wondering if a large truck just drove by. Today was different. We felt about 90 seconds of violent shaking followed by several aftershocks. We discussed the possibility of a tsunami, but having been warned of a 4-inch tsunami last year we didn’t take it very seriously. We live in an area of higher ground away from the ocean so it was not an issue being in the house. Paul decided to head into work and I was fine staying home with the girls.

Ten minutes after Paul left my neighbor came running over saying a major tsunami warning was in effect. I turned on the local radio station and sure enough they were reporting an 8.0 earthquake with a tsunami coming. I nervously listened as the Samoan d.j. started saying a huge 15-20 foot wave was coming towards the office building. She even starting praying for all of us, and then the radio station went to static. Talk about dramatic. This was especially significant as the radio station is in the same office building in Pago Pago as the National Park. I knew Paul wouldn’t be in the office yet, but it was equally worrisome thinking of him driving along the ocean. I have full faith in Paul’s abilities in a situation like this, but I was not looking forward to potential hours of worrying not knowing where he was.

Thankfully, Paul walked in the door a short time later, having been stopped by a police blockade. At this point we were getting some live news on CNN and the internet, but it was a lot of speculation. We finally were able to contact the superintendent at the National Park and were asked to assist if we could. We left the girls with the neighbors and headed into Pago Pago.

Most of the villages along the way looked fine. We did notice some mud and rocks on the road and more trash in the ocean than usual. As soon as we entered Pago Pago, it was a different story. There was major debris everywhere. Road crews were working to clear the road and we were able to get to Pago Plaza. It literally looked like a bomb had gone off. Cars and buses were flipped over. Paul’s boss' car is seen here, wedged into the second story of a building.
This is the back side of Pago Plaza, followed by the destruction on the first floor of the building.
The first floor of the National Park office was completely destroyed. We worked for a few hours trying to salvage things from the mud and water. A running joke during the cleanup was that this employee’s office was actually improved after the tsunami.
This is what was left of the NPSA visitor center.
Don't Drink the Water, a popular lunch spot, was recently renovated and is now in ruins.
As we worked we listened to people’s accounts of the tsunami. Apparently, there were a total of four major waves. Most of the staff ran upstairs for the first wave, but after having 8 foot high water fill the downstairs and listening to vehicles slam into the building, they questioned the building’s stability. After the first wave, they left and ran up the mountain. Reports of deaths were coming in fast. NPS staff recovered six bodies right after the tsunami. 22 deaths have now been confirmed and seeing all the rubble we suspect there may be more. All National Park Service staff and volunteers were accounted for and all 44 people survived.
We walked around Pago Pago seeing the devastation. It was amazing the amount of random items everywhere. This large boat ended up in the community bingo center.
Many other boats ended up in odd places.
Roadways and sidewalks were destroyed.
The vehicles everywhere really showed the force of the water. National Park vehicles were found under bridges, smashed against trees, even a quarter of a mile down the road.
It was heart wrenching to see the homes. Some people lost everything. More importantly, though, most people were safe in the hills when the tsunami hit.
One of the hardest parts of the day was the looting. Watching people at their worst was not something I will soon forget. People were looting stores, vehicles, offices, really anything they could get their hands on. Cars that were overturned were soon missing their tires as thieves came by. Some people were literally scavenging before a woman’s body was even removed. A lighter moment was some guy walking off with a couple volumes of the National Park Service law and policy books.
Luckily, the tsunami seems to have hit the major Pago area and only a few other villages. It could have been a lot worse. If people had been asleep or more people were on their way to school and work, many more lives would have been lost. We are grateful to be safe.

Snorkeling with the Girls

On Saturday my friends and I headed out for a morning of snorkeling, minus the husbands and kids. It had rained all night Friday, but by morning it cleared up. We ventured out to the Airport Lagoon (described in detail on this past post). Apparently, a Tusa Serene mask is the one to have, as 4 out of 5 of us have the same mask! Matafao Peak, our island's tallest mountain at 2142 feet, is seen in the background.Because of all the rain the visibility underwater wasn't the greatest, but we still managed to see a green sea turtle and Julia saw a blacktip reef shark. Since we weren't seeing the best the reef had to offer, we got a bit silly with the underwater camera. I heard the words "synchronized snorkeling" mentioned at one point. And after a few requests I am posting some pregnancy pics. Instead of the classic belly shot, I opted for the snorkeling pregnant woman photos. I am now over 7 months along and can only fit into Paul's rashguards!

Dinner at Tisa's

With three of my girlfriends' birthdays falling within the same week, we celebrated with dinner at Tisa's Barefoot Bar. The whole place is constructed out of driftwood and other random things that wash up on the beach. The decks are built around the trees so the effect is a bit like being in a tree house, overlooking the ocean. We've spent lots of Sundays at the sandy beach here that I sometimes take for granted just how cool Tisa's is.

Dinner was delicious. Fresh-caught yellow fin tuna, New Zealand steaks, and coconut vegetable curry were the main courses. For dessert, Tisa made us the best chocolate cake I've had in a long time. The plates were woven from palm fronds with a banana leaf laid on top to keep your food from falling through the cracks.The combination of the ocean breezes, the kids home with babysitters, and the great food and close friends made for such a nice night. This is why we live on a tropical island!

Humpback Whales

For exactly one year now, I have had bouts of extreme jealousy directed towards Paul. All of this jealousy boiled down to the fact that he got to go out with a visiting whale researcher and see several humpback whales within just a few feet of the boat! My envy subsided a bit last October as Emma and I were fortunate to witness a whale spouting and even breaching (jumping partly out of the water) just off shore. It was a marvelous moment and I had tears in my eyes as I have always dreamed of seeing humpback whales. I also got to hear the eerie songs of the whales several times underwater while diving. These moments sustained me for awhile, but over the past year I have pestered and reminded Paul that if at all possible, it was his duty to get me on that research boat this year!

September and October are the peak months when humpback whales visit our island. We have a group of whales that return each year, migrating from Antartica to enjoy our warm waters for mating and giving birth. This September I saw two whales spout way off shore, but this event only brought back my longing to play whale researcher for a day. Now it was October and both the scientists and the whales would soon be leaving the island, but I had not gotten the opportunity to go out on the boat. With only two days left of the scientists' visit, Paul called me and gave me the news that I on the list for Friday's boat trip. I was so excited that I had trouble sleeping the night before.

Friday morning finally arrived and we headed out in the somewhat choppy waters. Before the first hour was even up, the first whales were spotted. The boat sped over to the vicinity of the spout that was seen and suddenly one of the whales surfaced. As humpback whales are endangered, people should never get closer than 100 meters to them, but given that we were aboard a research vessel with all of the proper permits, we were able to witness the whales swimming literally a few feet from the boat.
We followed a group of three whales for awhile. They gave us quite a show and at one point one of the whales even swam underneath the boat. Each of the whales did a number of tail slaps and I couldn't believe how big their tails are! The whales were so close to the boat that we could have reached out and touched them. It was intriguing to be close enough to hear their breathing. After six hours of bobbing on the boat and lots of puking on my part, we saw a total of 8 whales. Despite my green color, I was so happy to get this opportunity. This definitely ranks up there on my list of amazing things I've done!Here is a site from the local newspaper that has photos of and by Dave Matilla, the lead scientist. http://www.samoanews.com/Whales2007/index.htm