Help on the way to Aunuu.

Help is on the way to residents of Aunuu who are without electricity and water. 

During the EOC briefing this morning, Director of Homeland Security Samana Ve’ave’a confirmed that is coordinating assistance with the Department of Public Safety, the Department of Search and Rescue and other partners to provide assistance for residents of Aunuu.

“Our priority now is to provide assistance for Aunuu and then do an assessment of the damage so we can get a clear picture of what happened on the ground there”, stated Director Samana. He continued, “Efforts have been made to reach Aunuu yesterday but rough seas and severe weather made it impossible”.

At the briefing this morning, Jimmy Sipili of ASPA confirmed the priority right now is to restore power and water to affected areas. “Our crew has been working overnight to fix the problem and start up water pumps and RO machines and resupply diesel for Aunuu. It is our hope to fully restore power and water supply for Aunu’u by 12pm today July 14, 2022.

Mr Sipili told KVZK News that 15 , 55 gallon drums containing diesel used for electricity supply in Aunuu were swept out to sea when strong waves crashed into ASPA’s site in Aunuu. “ We managed to recover 14 and one is still stuck in the drainage.   EPA, ASPA and Coast Guard responded, “ said Sipili. 

KVZK News spoke with EPA’s Ioane Talo Tomanogi who confirmed that there was fuel spilled from the damaged drum. “ The team used soak pads to soak up the spilled fuel”, said Talo Tomanogi.

Strong winds and tsunami-like waves crashed into family homes in Aunuu yesterday damaging properties and affecting the island’s power and water supply. 

A resident of Aunuu KVZK News spoke to said, strong winds and heavy swells started late on Wednesday night July 13th 2022.  It continued until the afternoon on July 14, 2022.  He said, some families had to find shelter elsewhere as the majority of houses were inundated with water.