tragic tsunami

Alright Alright... You caught me. Haven't posted on here in a while. Leave it to me to update you guys when something bad comes a long. I'm really concerned at the moment. At around 7am this morning, an earthquake measuring a magnitude of 8.3 struck off of Samoa. This triggered a tsunami waring through out the Islands and the coastlines of New Zealand. It was all so unexpected and happened so fast that before Samoan residents and vacationers had a chance, it had made its way up the south eastern shores terring apart the country. They are estimating well over 100 deaths at the moment: men, women, and children. Houses, Resorts, Fales, and pretty much anything resting on the beautiful picturesque coasts were picked up and shattered. I

t really worries me because I know many of the villagers didn't have much to begin with. Now what have they? Losing family members and all they have; within minutes. What also worries me is all of the people I had come close to while in Samoa, just 4 weeks ago. The tsunami plowed through Lalomanu, one of the places we stayed and grew close to. With emotions flowing, I scrambled through my journals to find Silia's (my good samoan friend from the area) contact information. I tried phoning her through skype and sent out an email to the Taufua beach fale resort, but no replies. :( I have a feeling all of the power is out and it is just a disaster over there.

What really gets me is that newspapers here in New Zealand and online sources only seem to be worried about their 1 or two missing Kiwi vacationers and pay little attention to the big picture. Rescue officials are estimating A HUNDRED deaths! (bodies washing up under palm trees and houses just gone). I'm exhausted and can't type anymore, however please keep SAMOA and the rest of the pacific islands in your prayers! in the meantime, I will keep checking my email for a safe reply back from my village friend.