Pago Pago, AMERICAN SAMOA — A “moment of silence” was observed yesterday at the opening service on the last day of the three-day Amerika Samoa 1st Annual Disaster Resilience Summit to commemorate the 13 years since the deadly 2009 Tsunami claimed the lives of 34 local residents.

Alofau Methodist Church Rev. Salu Aiolupo, who delivered the opening prayer and spiritual remarks, called for the “moment of silence”, as those in the audience — including US Federal Emergency Management Agency officials and other federal partners — bowed their heads for the Memorial Prayer Service.

In his special remarks, Attorney General Fainu’ulelei Falefatu Alailima-Utu, the current acting governor, noted that yesterday — the close of the summit — marks a solemn occasion, as it was this day, 13-years ago, that two strong earthquakes triggered tsunami waves which “claimed the lives of many of our loved ones in both American Samoa and neighboring Samoa.”

So on Sept. 29, 2022, “we honor all precious lives of family members, friends, and neighbors who perished from the 2009 tsunami,” he said, and noted that beyond the tragic loss of life that day, 13-years ago, “we remember the devastating damage that occurred on these islands at that time. In this part of the world, we regularly have to endure natural disasters.”

He described the “scenes of destruction caused by the 2009 tsunami” in the territory as “shocking”. 

“As bad as it was, many lives were saved because first responders, government and school officials, pulenu’u and many others reacted quickly to evacuate our people and school children, to safety,” he said.

And that is “why summits, like this, and the work that you do year-round is so vital, we need training and preparation to save lives,” he told participants, and noted that the 2009 tsunami was a major test of local disaster resilience and “we have long since rebuilt from that day.”

“Just as we have rebuilt from many natural disasters that came before and after. And each time, not only do we rebuild, but we also learn, using the lessons of the latest disaster to better prepare us for the next one,” he said.

To the participants, Fainu’ulelei said that, it’s the work that you do, that makes us ever more resilient — working together, in the face of natural disasters, is what makes our tight-knit and family oriented community, so special.

And it’s not lost on government leaders that the government and people can face simultaneous disasters and emergencies.

According to the acting governor, it’s the hope of the Lemanu Administration that “this very spirit of collaboration” does not just occur only during a disaster but also throughout the other critical phases of disaster mitigation, preparedness and recovery.

On the final day day of the Disaster Resilience Summit, on behalf of Gov. Lemanu P. S.  Mauga and Lt. Gov. Talauega E. V. Ale, “I want to express our government and people’s gratitude to FEMA, Red Cross and other federal partners, who have taken time away from their families to travel many hours to join us here for this summit,” said Fainu’ulelei.

He also extended “fa’amalo” to the Office of Disaster Assistance and Petroleum Management and local partners for organizing a successful event. Additionally, “Fa’afetai to the rest of the participants and our school children for showing your keen interest in disaster resilience.”

We hope that all of the participants will apply important information and lessons learned from this summit in your work and studies, he said.

Maria Lutz, the Regional Disaster Officer of the American Red Cross, delivered the keynote address and also spoke of the tsunami anniversary. (Samoa News will report in Monday’s edition on her address.)

The last three training sessions yesterday — before the official closing in the afternoon — included one from the local Homeland Security Department on “Preparedness and Response Functions in Emergency Management”.