[NHCOLL-L:4550] Fwd: Report on American Samoa Tsunami

[CAHawks at aol.com]

For those of you who may be interested in the impact of the American Samoa  
Tsunami - see below.
 
Cathy
 
Catharine Hawks
Conservator
2419 Barbour Road
Falls Church  VA 22043-3026 USA
t/f 703.876.9272
mobile 703.200.4370  

 
  
____________________________________
 From: Taskforce at heritagepreservation.org
To:  Taskforce at heritagepreservation.org
Sent: 10/2/2009 4:50:35 P.M. Eastern  Daylight Time
Subj: Report on American Samoa Tsunami



We have been receiving reports and  requests for information about how 
Wednesday’s tsunami affected cultural and  historic resources on American  
Samoa. A summary of what we know about damage and  current operations is below.  
The town of Pago  Pago was hard hit, and the American Samoa National  Park 
offices and visitors center there were  destroyed. Luckily all National Park 
Service employees and volunteers are  accounted for and well. Damage has 
also been reported at the Legislative,  Judicial, and Land Registrar's offices 
in the city of Tau. Court Clerk Terry  Fielding has frozen wet documents 
from Judiciary files and is now assessing  building issues. The Feleti Barstow 
Public Library _http://fbpl.org/_ (http://fbpl.org/)  has been  damaged, 
but the extent of the damage has not yet been determined.   
FEMA Region IX has activated all desks at the  Regional Response 
Coordination Center and the National Response Coordination Center, and response teams 
have been  deployed. At present, operations are focused on search and 
rescue, food, and  shelter, but the situation appears to be stabilizing. Initial 
FEMA on-site  assistance for cultural resources would most likely be in the 
form of a  Mission Assignment to another federal agency until FEMA 
specialists  arrive. Our FEMA  colleagues have been coordinating with Jane Yagley, ESF 
#11 National Natural,  Cultural & Historic Coordinator, Department of the 
Interior. Jane has  reported that three NPS cultural resource people arrived 
last night in  Samoa. Scott Wanek, Regional Chief Ranger,  Pacific West 
Region, NPS, reported that the first priority would be to assess  NPS’s 
curatorial collection and take emergency actions to mitigate damage  there. He said, 
“If the library [Feleti Barstow Public Library] is close, they  [NPS staff] 
can probably get at least a quick early  assessment.” 
In terms of immediate assistance: 1] Mary Chute,  Deputy Director for 
Library Services at the Institute of Museum and Library  Services, reports that 
LSTA funds for American Samoa can be repurposed for  response and recovery; 
2] AIC-CERT is available to provide support by email  
(info at conservation-us.org) and phone, (202-661-8068). Support for AIC-CERT  on-site assistance may 
be available depending on the financial resources  needed. 
The following is a first-hand report on  damage from the tsunami by an NPS 
employee: 
_http://tropicalbrowns.blogspot.com/2009/09/tsunami-in-american-samoa.html_ 
(http://tropicalbrowns.blogspot.com/2009/09/tsunami-in-american-samoa.html) 
. 
Heritage Preservation will continue to monitor reports  and bring all 
members of the Heritage Emergency National Task Force up to date  when we have 
further specific information. Task Force resources for response  and recovery 
are available at 
_http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PROGRAMS/TFRespRecover.html_ (http://www.heritagepreservation.org/PROGRAMS/TFRespRecover.html) . 
Heritage  Emergency National Task Force 
_Heritage  Preservation_ (http://www.heritagepreservation.org/)  
1012 14th Street  NW, Suite 1200 
Washington, DC 20005 
phone:  202-233-0800 | fax: 202-233-0807 
_taskforce at heritagepreservation.org_ 
(mailto:taskforce at heritagepreservation.org)  




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