02/10/2009 0002UTC 17 40.828S 177 23.159E Day 843 Up at 0610, 23C, Clear, Wind SSE 5-10 Knots.

[Above, the tsunami-devastated wharf at Pago Pago harbor in American Samoa. We landed our dinghy and walked that dock daily during our seven-week sojourn in Pago about a year ago; it is hard to comprehend the annihilation even with photos.]

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From what we can gather, Pago Pago was hardest hit of the larger towns in the Samoas. We are extremely familiar with that harbor after anchoring there for nearly two months during a refit last year. We've now heard that of the twenty yachts anchored in Pago Pago when the waves hit, only four were still floating in the harbor afterwards. One yachtie was killed.

Along the edges of Pago Pago harbor, standing out in bold relief, are (were) a number of large and rusting hulks, abandoned Chinese fishing trawlers. Our understanding is that some of these vessels broke loose from their mooring lines and careened through the harbor, causing extensive damage. A similar incident happened some years back during a cyclone in Pago Pago. The derelict and free-floating trawlers created more destruction than the winds and storm surge.

Power in Pago Pago was expected to be out in some areas for up to a month, and officials said that over two-thousand people were housed in seven shelters across the island. The waves lifted a hardware store and swept it across a two-lane highway. Crews later found the two employees' bodies in the debris. Albeit there is, at this point, no way to know for certain, it may have been the hardware store we frequented, which was located above the main landing wharf and right in harm's way. The two men who ran the store were the ones who came to Grace's first-aid when she was seriously gouged by a cat ashore one day. We've always credited their quick response and treatment with preventing an infection from developing. Obviously we are concerned that the same hardware store and employees may be at the center of this tragic event.

Of the cruising boats that escaped catastrophe in Samoa was the s/v Dorothy Marie, which was moored at Apia in independent Samoa. We knew them from Fiji; the yacht was here at Vuda Point Marina until just recently. We'd spent time with the crew, Glen and Sally. As the tsunami approached, they were told by locals to run for higher ground. They did, and are alright. Ironically, while in Apia, Glen and Sally were expecting to meet Laura, who owns the only resort on Niuatoputapu Island. But so far Laura hasn't shown up. We fear for her safety.

Though we have yet to communicate directly with our friends in Neiafu harbor in Tonga's Vava'u Island Group, we believe that the situation there was not dramatic and that they are more than likely okay. An encouraging email arrived late yesterday via some other acquaintances:

The tsunami was a non-event here in Neiafu harbor but was treated to the full local VHF net anxiety response you might expect. We had about a .5 to 1.5 metre surge in and out that caused only a visible rise and fall of water on shore but no wave action. The lowest outlying reef anchorages had some interesting effects -- Mala Island Resort lost its dock; the Coral Garden went nearly dry and then filled in again with a huge current; one boat hit bottom and was scraped back and forth out of control in Nuku Island anchorage. But, overall, everywhere (in Tonga) except Niuatoputapu did fine. Niuatoputapu is a different story and we are only piecing it together now.

Emergency medical teams arrived at tsunami-ravaged Niuatoputapu Island yesterday, the first outside aid for Tongan victims since the early-morning disaster two days ago. The death toll for this remote settlement, 270nm north of the country's main island, Tongatapu, now stands at nine. Four residents with serious injuries were flown out to Tonga's capital, Nuku'alofa, only yesterday because damage to Niuatoputapu's marginal airstrip meant no craft could land immediately after the disaster.

A Tongan Government spokesman who had flown over the island, said ninety-percent of the homes had been destroyed and the hospital was seriously damaged. Two of the island's villages, Hihifo and Falehau, bore the brunt of three tidal waves, some 6m high, which hit at three-minute intervals after the 8.3-magnitude earthquake. Vaipoa village remained relatively unharmed.

Just over a thousand people live on Niuatoputapu, which is situated relatively close to the Samoan border. It is isolated by the expensive cost of infrequent transport to the island. That seclusion was exacerbated this week as the tsunami severed all telecommunications infrastructure. Because aid workers were unable to fly directly to the island, a Tonga Defence Services patrol boat loaded with food, medical supplies and tents was sent north from Tongatapu, arriving about 1800 yesterday.

Clean water remains a critical issue. Storage tanks are either unusable or were destroyed. A radio-based clothing and food drive started yesterday morning in Nuku'alofa and a French frigate, which is on a goodwill trip to the capital, has been formally asked to take supplies to Niuatoputapu.