Samoa officially OKs
aid from Hawaii$50,000 in donated supplies and
relief will be allotted to victims
PAGO PAGO, American Samoa >> The government of Samoa has approved the distribution of $50,000 of donations sent from Hawaii to aid victims of Cyclone Heta, according to the relief drive's organizer.
Three containers of donated food, water, clothing and linens arrived in Apia and were handed over on March 2 to Prime Minister Tuilaepa Sailele Malielegaoi, according to organizer Gus Hannemann, who flew to Apia from Honolulu to distribute the donations. He spoke by phone from Apia.
Heta, the first tropical cyclone of the season, plowed through American Samoa and neighboring Samoa on Jan. 4 with winds up to 200 mph.
The relief drive in Hawaii was aided by a $10,000 donation from wrestler-turned-actor Dwayne "The Rock" Johnson, a former Hawaii resident whose grandmother lives in a Samoan village, Hannemann said.
One container was filled with corned beef, sausages, canned food, flour, rice, sugar, salt, bottled water, cooking oil and other foods. The other two containers were filled with clothing, sheets, towels and other household effects.
The donated supplies all went to Samoa because there was no official request for supplies for American Samoa, Hannemann said.
More than $22 million in federal assistance has been approved for American Samoa through the Federal Emergency Management Agency, said Thomas Costello, the local federal coordinator for FEMA.
More than $10 million in federal aid already has been issued to local victims of Heta, he said.
The U.S. Small Business Administration has also approved $3.6 million in low-interest loans to residents and business owners, said Carl Gaspari, the SBA's representative in Pago Pago.