On 29 September, an 8.3 magnitude earthquake, followed by tsunamis, struck Samoa, Tonga and American Samoa, leaving tens of thousands in search of humanitarian assistance. The Samoa Red Cross and its volunteers issued warnings to leave low-lying areas and have since been providing life-saving shelter and other support. The international Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies has allocated 325,000 Swiss francs (312,207 US dollars, 214,619 euro) from its Disaster Relief Emergency Fund. Rosemarie North is in Samoa and shares a personal account of what she has seen.
When the earthquake happened, I was at home in New Zealand. I packed my passport, a photo of my grandmother and my mobile phone. I put on sneakers, loaded my dog in the car and evacuated from my house.
At 11:15, a tsunami of up to one metre high was forecast to reach the low-lying coast where I live. It was sweeping down the Pacific, triggered by a huge earthquake off the coast of Samoa.
What it would be like to have a split second's warning of an impending killer wave? Would you just grab your family and run?
After a few hours, the wave petered out. I went home. What a relief. It could have been New Zealand’s turn for a disaster.
Bad news from Samoa
But bad news from Samoa was starting to arrive. The quake had shaken a few buildings. Worse, a succession of tsunamis had wreaked terrible destruction on the south and south-east coast of the main populated island, Upolu.
The coastline had been a tropical playground of bright green grass, hibiscus and golden sand.
When I arrived yesterday, it stank like a rubbish dump. The coast is a chaos of already rotting vegetation, twisted corrugated iron and concrete. Cars have been shoved into trees. Dangling six metres from the ground, on telephone lines, I could see shreds of leaves and fabric. Smoke seeped out of fires. People stepped over rubble.
The government estimates that 110 people lost their lives in Samoa. Others are missing. Many more are injured.
Volunteers mobilize
Amid the destruction, people are already busy. First to spring into action were Samoa Red Cross Society volunteers, alerted by church bells as soon as the quake struck just before 07:00. They urged people to head for higher ground.
Now, along the south coast, survivors are sleeping under tarpaulins in their vegetable plots or orchards away from the coast. Red Cross volunteers are bringing in big, family-sized tents, food, water and blankets.
Volunteers are energized to help. But the pain is quite close. “I never cry,” says Juno Laban, 63, a volunteer of nearly 50 years. “But yesterday I cried four times.” The reason: a man flew from New Zealand to track down his wife and daughter. Juno had to brace him for bad news. In the end, she managed to reunite the family.
Tears and generosity
Today, Juno has only cried once. It was when she tried to buy two gas stoves for families who lost everything. The company wouldn’t take any money from the Red Cross. Even better, it donated ten stoves and bottles. Juno and the gas man cried together, she says.
Help arrives from many places. It feels as though generosity is spreading like a warm wind around the world, back to Samoa.