And an American Samoa Congressman, Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin, is to get a first-hand look at some of the tsunami affected areas in southeast Asia.
Speaking from Washington DC today, the congressman says he will be visiting the disaster sites as a member of the House of Representatives International Relations subcommittee on Asia and the Pacific.
He says he will be leaving, with the committee chairman, sometime after January the fourth.
"The way our agenda looks right now, we're definitely going to be making visits, especially to Sri Lanka. I've seen a tidal wave personally, I've witnessed what happens when the shore is all sucked up before the coming of the wave. When these waves... they don't come in one instance, they come in a series of five or six waves until until the last wave comes with a final punch."
Faleomavaega Eni Hunkin.
