21 Jan 2004

Samoa Red Cross says country is virtually back to normal after Heta - thanks to the people

5:00 pm on 21 January 2004

The Red Cross in Samoa says the country is virtually back to normal after Cyclone Heta swept through two weeks ago.

Power has been restored across the country, but 5-thousand villagers on Savai'i are still without easy access to water.

The Red Cross is supporting them with pumps and water tanks.

The secretary-general of Samoa Red Cross, Tautala Mauala, says she is proud of the way the community has pulled together in the wake of the storm.

"When we went out to do our distribution, everyone had been helping one another. Looking out for each other and offering their spaces for some of their relatives or even friends. A couple of days after the cyclone, we charter a flight and we went on an aerial view of the country and it was amazing how even though we could see a lot of crops damage and some houses, but the environment was well cleaned out and it was really good, it was really amazing."