GFX: Today, FEMA officials met with village mayors and town leaders in American Samoa to explain how FEMA's individual assistance recovery program will be administered.  DR-1859-American Samoa]
 
Eric White/FEMA: We were invited to a cultural briefing this morning where we had an overview of the FEMA programs.  We talked about what kind of programs were available for people who qualified. The different program areas did an overview which included FEMA individual assistance, Small Business Administration, voluntary agencies and inspection services, who are the folks that will be going out in the field who actually look at the damaged homes.  The purpose of the meeting was to give the people of American Samoa a better understanding of what we do, what programs are available and also to give them a little insight on how the process works so we can get them through the system as quickly and as effectively as possible so they can start their road to recovery.
 
[GFX: After the meeting, several village mayors discussed how the tsunami disaster impacted their villages.]
 
Uso Lagoo/Mayor - Faga'alu Village: Last week when this disaster happened I was sad about the situation because earlier they were talking about they had a plan, evacuation plan, but from what I witnessed, what I see, if there was a plan it was a poor plan.  People were running all over and asking for help, screaming for help. Luckily we have a family in the village who there was a big help for them, moving people from the hospital up to the mountain, relative's house.
 
Taesaliali Matagi/Mayor - Ululei Village: From past experience we're thankful for the President because Obama declared American Samoa as a federal disaster in less than 72 hours.  We thank the President and throughout the process that President declared American Samoa as a federal disaster and asked for assistance to provide for people in less than 72 hours. It was great and we felt that the presence of the federal officials and the volunteers who came over and assisted our people in hardships we are facing resulting from the earthquake and the tsunami. We are very thankful for the federal assistance that we have seen and I hope that the process will move along as smooth as possible.