Samoans plan new lives away from the sea

LALOMANU, Samoa — Samoans who fled to the hills as a deadly tsunami tore through their villages last week began searching for materials to build new homes far above the sea that washed away their dwellings and many loved ones.

The tsunami claimed another life Monday as a woman who had been rescued from the raging waters died from her injuries in Samoa’s Apia Hospital, police said. The death toll stood at 178, with 137 killed in Samoa, 32 in American Samoa, and nine in nearby Tonga.

Nearly a week after the disaster, hundreds of Samoans remain huddled in the hills above the coast — and none appeared ready to return to life on the beach.

“We don’t want to go back down,” said Solo Feleni, whose family is living in a tent. “This is the safest place for us.”

Feleni said survivors urgently need more water; the last delivery to her area was three days ago. Staff of South Pacific Water, Samoa’s bottled mineral water exporter, made a third trip into the hills Monday to deliver another 400 cases of water.

Some survivors of the Sept. 29 tsunami, which was triggered by a 8.3-magnitude underwater earthquake, were also asking for building materials, as they began planning their new homes high above the coast.

“We don’t want to live at our usual place because it brings back sad memories of the disaster,” said Fuea Ta’uinaola, who is camping with his family on a hillside at Satitoa village. The family is considering relocating to the area from the coastal village of Aleipata, which was virtually wiped out by the tsunami.

Chief executive of Samoa’s Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Taulealeausumai Laavasa Malua, said the government will provide support for families who want to rebuild inland. Tsunami-devastated villages had previously been identified as being at risk from flooding, he said.

But while those who have lost their homes are not interested in rebuilding along the coast at the moment, Malua said it will be a challenge to convince them in the longer term to settle inland.

“We’ve always been working with the villagers, telling them they are in a risk area, and when they rebuild they should probably think about rebuilding permanently inland,” he said. “But people’s linkages to their land and also their heritage is not easy to be just abandoned like that.”

Meanwhile, the U.N. children’s fund was preparing to begin a mass measles vaccination program for 11,000 children in Samoa later this week.

“Measles is always a threat to children in disaster situations … because children die from measles,” Dennis McKinlay, UNICEF’s New Zealand executive director, said. Lack of safe water and the potential for disease to spread rapidly were “the main risk factors” for the Samoan community, he said.

Up to 4,000 children have been displaced from the tsunami zone “and that’s quite a concern,” he said. Children orphaned by the tsunami or who lost family are being targeted by the agency as part of a child protection program UNICEF has run in Samoa for some years.

Seven people reported missing in Samoa after the tsunami have still not been found, a senior police officer told The Associated Press on condition of anonymity as he was not authorized to speak on the matter. The search may be ended in the next day or two, he said.

In American Samoa, authorities said Monday that the tsunami had damaged the visitors center, washed away some artifacts inside and forced workers to relocate to a two-bedroom apartment. National Park Service spokeswoman Patti Wold said officials were still trying to assess the damage to the 22-square-mile (60-square kilometer) coastal park, the only U.S. park located south of the equator.

The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers also helped restore water service to residents in the American territory and coordinated the installation of more than 20 generators at shelters and sewer and water treatment plants.

The U.S. Coast Guard and Navy have supplied survivors with more than 26,000 meals, 14,000 liters (3,700 gallons) of water, 1,800 blankets and more than 800 cots.