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Remembering the 2009 tsunami victims

In memory of the victims of the 2009 earthquake and tsunami, Gov. Lolo Matalasi Moliga has ordered all flags in American Samoa to be lowered and flown at half-staff next Monday, Sept. 29 — marking the anniversary of the disaster in the territory.

 

Five years ago, on Sept. 29, 2009 at 6:38 a.m. a strong 8.0 earthquake shook the Samoan islands and some 15 to 20 minutes later was followed by the most devastating tsunami ever to hit the Samoan islands. With towering waves, the tsunami killed 34 people in American Samoa, three in Tonga and more than 100 in neighboring Samoa.

 

In a memorandum issued yesterday afternoon the governor says flags are to be flown half staff on Monday, from sunrise until sunset in observance and memory “of those in American Samoa whose lives were taken” in 2009.

 

“May the lowering of the flags prompt us to remember those who died and the devastation of that day, and may it also move us to give thanks to God for the lives that were spared,” the governor said.

 

“May we always be attentive and focused on the need to be vigilant and meticulous in our preparation for such disasters,” he concluded.

 

No specific government service is scheduled over the weekend or on Monday for the tsunami anniversary but tomorrow, from 11:30a.m. to 12:30p.m., the Rotary Club of Pago Pago and Hawaiian Airlines will host a Memorial Remembrance Service for the victim's immediate family members at the Tsunami Memorial Family Picnic Shelter at Lion’s Park in Tafuna.

 

The public is invited to join the annual memorial service, where people are invited to give testimony to their lost family and friends in the disaster, according to a public announcement, which also says that Human and Social Services Department will support the memorial service as part of the National Recovery and Wellness Healing for September 2014.

 

On Sunday, at the Healing Garden in Leone, there will be a floating lantern ceremony, a small community event hosted by the village beginning at 5p.m.

 

Ten residents, including two children from Leone perished in the tsunami and the Healing Garden was created in their memory.

 

Leone was one of the hardest-hit shoreline villages during the tsunami.