There are no official ceremonies to mark the 11th anniversary of the September 29, 2009 earthquake and tsunami which killed 34 men, women and children in the territory.
Nevertheless at the Holy Cross Church in Leone the morning Mass was offered for all of the victims of the worst tragedy to hit American Samoa in recent history. 11 of the 34 victims were from Leone.
Fr Kelemete Pua’auli, Rector of Holy Cross Church said all of those who died in the tragedy were remembered at the daily morning Mass.
Individual families will place bouquets at the Leone Healing Garden which has the names of the mothers, fathers and children from the village who did not survive the natural disaster.
The 10th anniversary of the earthquake and tsunami last year was the final remembrance by Hawaiian Airlines and the Pago Pago Rotary Club at the picnic shelter and monument which also bears the names of those killed.
There was an informal gathering of Rotarians at the same site this morning.
Rotarian Taulapapa Willie Sword said they wanted to remember those who perished in the disaster in a simple, lowkey gathering.
Congresswoman Aumua Amata joined more than a dozen Rotarians who turned out this morning,
Flowers were placed on the monument with the names of the victims and a prayer was offered after which the Rotarians fellow shipped over breakfast and enjoyed the cool breeze of Pala Lagoon.
At an ASG memorial service for the 10th anniversary of the disaster last year, Governor Lolo said the lives of the men, women and children who were killed in the tsunami should not be in vain.
He urged everyone to learn about disaster preparedness so they know what to do and be prepared when disaster strikes.
KHJ News points out that there hasn’t been any siren tests for sometime. We have been reliably informed that all except a few of the tsunami warning towers are not operational.
