Isle residents help out
Samoa after cyclone
Hawaii residents, and one high-profile former resident, have answered the call to help Samoa, which was slammed by Tropical Cyclone Heta earlier this month.
Relief organizer Gus Hannemann said his effort had gathered a container-load of food by yesterday. Two containers of donations are set to leave Hawaii for Samoa on Jan. 26.
Also yesterday, the Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was making disaster funds available for the American Samoan island of Tutuila, which was struck by Heta.
FEMA head Michael Brown said the funds were authorized under a disaster declaration by President Bush.
Heta plowed through Samoa and the neighboring U.S. territory of American Samoa on Jan. 4 with winds of up to 200 mph.
Four American Red Cross volunteers from Hawaii arrived in American Samoa on Friday to help in the relief effort.
Hannemann said his effort is targeting independent Samoa, formerly Western Samoa, which is not a U.S. territory and is not receiving federal aid.
Samoa's population is more than double American Samoa's and "it needs help the most," said Hannemann, a former legislator for American Samoa.
"Up to 90 percent of the banana, taro and breadfruit crops are gone," he added.
Among the residents who have bombarded Hannemann with offers of help is Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a wrestler and movie star of Samoan ancestry who grew up in Hawaii. Johnson has donated $10,000 worth of food to be sent to the island this week from the Times Super Market store in Kahala.
Johnson's family's home villages of Lalomanu, Aleipata and Falealili, part of Samoa, were among the areas severely damaged by the storm, which hit Jan. 2 to 6, Hannemann said.
"The outpouring of aloha is just incredible," Hannemann said.
Donors include PM&O Line, which is offering two empty containers for shipping; Weyerhauser Hawaii, which is providing boxes and packing materials; Island Movers, which has volunteered trucks and drivers to pick up and deliver large items; Unity House, which is providing free space to house the donations; Hawaiian Airlines, which has offered additional shipping and cargo assistance; and Hilton Hawaiian Village, United Laundry and the Pagoda Hotel, which donated linens, towels, bedding and other supplies.
Honolulu acting Fire Chief John Clark is allowing 14 fire stations to serve as drop-off sites for donations. These stations will accept items from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. until Jan. 26: Hauula, Hawaii Kai, Kailua, Kalihi Kai, Kaneohe, Kapolei, Kuakini, Mililani Mauka, Moanalua, Waianae, Waikiki and Waipahu.
For information about what is needed, call Hannemann at 375-7800 or Soloali'i Fa'alepo, the American Samoa Office in Kalihi, at 847-1998.
The Associated Press contributed to this report.