21 May 2003

Storms in American Samoa claim five lives

6:12 am on 21 May 2003

Five people are confirmed dead after rain caused landslides and flooding in American Samoa.

Three teenagers perished in a house in Pago Pago and a woman and her daughter were found in the rubble of the Langkilde building at Fagatogo.

Both buildings had been engulfed in mud and rubble after hillsides gave way.

The territory recorded around ten inches of rain early yesterday morning.

Schools will be closed again today as a state of emergency remains in place.

And as Monica Miller in Pago Pago reports the Governor has called for help to clean up flood damage at the LBJ Hospital.

"the Governor has put out a call for any youth groups or government employees with time on their hands to plead come out to help clean up the hospital,... the hospital was completely covered by water...there is a stream right beside the hospital and that overflowed and the hospital is in bad shape and the Governor issued a call for any able bodies to come out and help, because the doctors and nurses have been cleaning for ten hours and they need rest"