Posted on 10/01/2009 3:09:45 PM PDT by La Enchiladita
SIUMU, Samoa, Oct 1 (Reuters) - Rescuers fished bloated corpses from the South Pacific off Samoa and pulled bodies from the mud and twisted rubble of devastated islands as the death toll from a series of tsunamis neared 200 on Thursday.
Officials feared it could go much higher.
A spotter aircraft circled the ocean looking for bodies, dropping smoke flares to pinpoint their location for a boat to collect. Within an hour five were hauled ashore.
The confirmed death toll stood at 149 in Samoa, 31 on American Samoa and nine on neighboring Tonga, but officials feared that whole towns had been destroyed on outlying islands and hundreds of people remained missing.
Some 20 villages were destroyed in Samoa and scores flattened in nearby American Samoa.
"Everybody is in a state of shock," Representative Eni F.H. Faleomavaega, who arrived on the U.S. territory of American Samoa on Wednesday night, told Reuters in a telephone interview. "Many families are still up on high ground. They don't want to come down. We're still having tremors (from the earthquake)."
(Excerpt) Read more at reuters.com ...
The waves hit early in the morning, almost without warning, leaving many villagers little chance to outrun waters surging 200 metres (650 feet) inland.
Radio New Zealand, quoting disaster authorities, said 32,000 people had been affected, with some 3,000 left homeless.
"The devastation is frightening. Every family has been affected. One of my staff members has lost 13 members of her family," said Adimaimalaga Tafunai, director of Women in Business Development Inc (WIBDI) in Apia.
Well, I guess we’ll see if President 0bama ‘hates’ Samoans, much as President Bush ‘hated’ those in NOLA...
Prayers up.
Yeah imagine the American President out partying in Copenhagen after such a devastation to the People on an American Teritory. He obviously cares little about Island people and that seems strange since he was supposedly born on the Island of Oahu. You would think there was more of an emotional attachment to this devastating tsunami in one of our American Territories.
No doubt Obama must hate Samoans.
What, it’s been 3 days already and Ubama bin Lyin hasn’t gone to American Samoa yet? Not even a flyover?
Where is the outrage... is there a Samoan Caucus in Congress? NYTimes, are you on this? Is this microphone on?
I didn’t think so.
Prayers for the people indeed yet I think Feinstein or Pelosi’s husband owns major business in that region.
Hopefully good for victims “”IF”” the aid gets to the victims.
Prayers up !!
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