By Staff Writer
A team of Samoan rescue workers caught the New Zealand media attention when they rescued several people caught in the sudden flood wash from Cyclone Gabrielle and also volunteered for cleanup.
The New Zealand media outlet Stuff centered their report of the humanitarian action by Samoan team leader Fatu Asuafi and his crew in Hastings.
The Stuff news wrote about how Asuafi and his crew were among those rescued from the roof of their working home last week.
By the weekend they were out helping out as volunteers to clean up after the cyclone before returning to normal work picking apples.
“Last Tuesday, Fatu Asuafi and his fellow Recognised Seasonal Employer (RSE) mates saved lives as floodwaters roared through Hastings,” Stuff reported.
“Then they climbed atop roofs before getting rescued by helicopters. A few days later they were busy helping dig silt out of people’s houses.
“Now, exactly a week after being rescued, they’re back at work picking apples.”
Stuff wrote about how Asuafi recounted the events of the past week while filling a bucket with Royal Gala apples from trees near Clive.
“He speaks in a humble manner that suggests he’s not experienced anything particularly unusual.
“Asuafi, 35, a father of two from the island of Savai’i, is a team leader with a group of 19 working for P&G and living at Pakowhai.
“About 1pm last Tuesday they were having lunch at their living quarters when swift water started to flow through the surrounding orchard. Within moments they were knee-deep, then chest-deep.
“Asuafi yelled to his workmates to get on the roofs. They were able to throw some belongings up, then clambered up themselves.
“While doing that they noticed a car load of five people trapped in the current on Pakowhai Road.
“So the boys got them, and we put them on our shoulders and put them on the roof,” Asuafi said.
“Then they waited about two-and-a-half hours until helicopters came and plucked them to safety.
“In the Pacific we have experienced disasters like the cyclones and tsunamis, so we weren’t afraid. We were lucky.
“We survived, and we just give thanks to our father in heaven for saving our lives and our company T&G for standing behind us,” he said.
They lost any belongings they were not able to get onto the roof.
On Saturday the group went to Waiohiki, where numerous homes were flooded, and helped dig out silt.
“We were blessed to be able to help,” he said.
“And we’re blessed to be back to normal and picking apples today,” Asuafi said.
Asuafi spent days living at Civil Defence temporary accommodation before moving into other purpose-built RSE accommodation quarters that was undamaged.
They intend to do more voluntary clean-up work in the coming days.
This is Asuafi’s seventh six-month stint as an RSE worker. He returns to Samoa in May.