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Remembering Tropical Cyclone Gita — Bluesky supports solar lantern distribution

EMS accepts solar lanternsDPS accepts solar lanternsHope House accepts solar lanternsRed Cross accepts solar lanterns
Source: Bluesky Communications media release

Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA —  A year ago this week, Tropical Cyclone GITA caused wide spread damage in American Samoa after grueling days of rainfall up to 6 inches and maximum sustained winds of 52mph with gusts up to 60mph.

Aside from significant damages to personal properties and flooding, the majority of families in the densely populated area of the territory were without electricity throughout the first few weeks following Gita.

As American Samoa keeps watch at the start of the new year, and braces through this period of cyclone season, Bluesky is pleased with the opportunity to sponsor and support Mr. Barry Markowitz's travel to introduce innovative solar lanterns to the territory.

In partnership with Luminaid, Barry brought compact and light weight solar lanterns to be used in times of emergency in the territory.

Barry is no stranger to American Samoa, he is a photographer and guest writer for Samoa News since 2005.

Barry reached out to Bluesky for help in sponsoring his trip to the territory to donate the first of its kind solar lanterns for key organizations in American Samoa. On Friday, Feb. 1, 2019, Bluesky accompanied Barry to present the donated lanterns to Hope House, Red Cross, the Department of Public Safety, and the Emergency Medical Services (EMS).

“Fa’afetai tele lava to Bluesky, Hawaiian Airlines, Sadie’s By the Sea — Tom Drabble and VCX Technologies — Howard Helg for your support in helping me bring these Luminaid solar lanterns for the community of American Samoa. These solar lanterns will enable the community and first responders who do not have access to electricity during a natural disaster to carry on with their activities” said Markowitz.

Luminaid solar lanterns can provide 50 hours of lumination at low light, 18 hours on high, 9 hours medium, and 4 hours on Turbo and three days on intermittent blinking.