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New Zealand floods trigger tsunami flashbacks for Samoan man
New Zealand floods trigger tsunami flashbacks for Samoan man

RNZ News

time04-07-2025

  • Climate
  • RNZ News

New Zealand floods trigger tsunami flashbacks for Samoan man

Waihopai and Wairau rivers. Photo: Webcam/Marlborough District Council With New Zealand's recent weather warnings and widespread flooding, a Samoan man whose home in Marlborough was affected says the experience triggered haunting memories of the 2009 tsunami that devastated his home village of Aleipata. Tauinaola Timuiaiala, originally from the villages of Solosolo and Lalomanu, moved to Aotearoa in 2018. Now based on a farm in Marlborough with his wife Dione and their children, he told Pacific Waves that the flooding reminded him of the deadly natural disaster that struck Samoa and neighbouring Pacific nations on 29 September 2009. That tsunami killed 149 people in Samoa and caused widespread destruction to homes, vehicles, and infrastructure across the region. Thirty-one people in American Samoa and nine in Tonga also lost their lives. "However, when I came [to New Zealand], and if you know in the rural area of Lalomanu, it is like the rural area here what we call the country side, which is the same. Thats why I thought when I moved here I was happy to live for the farm life,. "But when I moved here things were not easy. It was a struggle." It was his first experience of a major flood in Aotearoa and it took him straight back to the moment the 2009 tsunami struck. Tauinaola Timuiaiala with his wife Dione Timuiaiala and Father in Samoa. Photo: Dione Timuiaiala "My mind went back to the time of the tsunami. Peoples hearts broke and during the tsunami there was a lot of sadness among the village and people who lost their loved ones from the natural disaster. "And now that this has happened, I thank God that this happened and I have had the experience." Timuiaiala said that experience helped him act fast to protect his family and neighbours. "On the day it happened, it reminded me of what happened in Lalomanu. Even though I had faith in God, when the incident happened, I did not sit still, the only thing that came to mind was the safety of my family and my neighbours. I used the tractor to help move everyone to safety." The Pelorus River in Marlborough is running high. Photo: RNZ / Samantha Gee His children were confused at first, mistaking the rising waters for snow. But he knew what had to be done. "We were thinking it was just rain. My kids said it looked like snow. I said, 'It's not snow, it's flood water'. I quickly got changed into my work clothes and started to get my family to the other side of the farm to safety." As of Thursday afternoon Nelson, Tasman and Marlborough remained under a state of emergency and the regions under new orange heavy rain warnings. Civil Defence is warning people whose properties flooded last week to prepare for more heavy rain and to consider staying elsewhere.

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