Coastal Solutions

Archive for November 5th, 2009

Nov 05 2009

Thursday, October 29

Published by tchase under Samoan Tsunami

We spent most of the day in meetings with the American Samoa Government (ASG) and the various federal agencies. We first met with the ASG Department of Public Works director and staff to discuss building code issues. Then we met samoa-9-with-caption1 with a local architect and an engineer from (Western) Samoa who happened to be in Pago Pago that day—he would later accompany us on our visit to Samoa. Finally, we met with National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) and Department of Homeland Security (DHS) staff who work on land planning issues.

samoa-10-with-caption1 We returned to the field late Thursday afternoon, visiting the village of Masefau on the north side of the island. Tsunami elevations were lower here and damage was less severe than most of the other villages we visited. However, some older, wood-frame buildings close to the bay shoreline were destroyed or heavily damaged.

Although the shoreline was lined with a stone revetment extending several feet above grade, the tsunami overtopped the structure and flowed into the village. The two-story school building, which was constructed of concrete samoa-11-with-caption and reinforced masonry, was already back in use; first floor windows had been replaced, rooms had been cleaned and repainted, etc.

We also met the owner of a new house that had been elevated approximately three feet above grade on concrete and reinforced masonry samoa-12-with-caption foundation walls. The tsunami had entered the house, with flood depths of a few inches, but the house sustained far less damage than other, lower houses nearby.

At the end of the day, we returned to our hotel, Tisa’s. Chris then headed to the airport, where he boarded the first of several planes that would take him home to North Carolina. Lesley and Jennifer remained, preparing to travel to Samoa the next day.

– ASCE/COPRI tsunami assessment team