The Samoa Meteorological Office reported that more than 300 millimetres of rainfall was recorded in Savaii on Thursday which led to flash floods.

The floods caused damages to homes, businesses, roads and disrupted water and electricity supply. Farms have been damaged and livelihood for some families has been impacted.

There were various videos of the raging waters entering homes and destroying properties that were put on social media. Tears were shed by people who had families which were affected by the floods.

In the various videos that were put in place, none of them show any Government agency taking action to evacuate people to higher grounds or coordinating safety for people near flooded waters.

Samoa Observer spoke to families and businesses in Savaii who have said that not one Government official had come to them or had been seen assessing damages.

There was also no word from the Government and the relevant ministry on what would be done in terms of immediate relief.

It is also of concern that the Disaster Management Office which comes under the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment had not activated any of its disaster protocols.

The Disaster Management Office was established to facilitate, coordinate and manage national disaster risk reduction and disaster management activities to enhance the provisions of a safer and more secure Samoa.

There are lives which have been impacted by the flood and it is simply unacceptable to see a lack of action and concern from the authorities.

It is very appalling that the office that was set up for the purpose of being the first responder during a natural disaster has not responded even yet.

Disaster management is a multi-agency task where key players from all ministries should come together at the first instant when a warning is raised so in the case of a disaster, all agencies are on standby and ready to take action.

Did this happen? No it did not. Surely enough, the people responsible for taking action must have been watching the videos of the flood.

By now, water trucks should have started carting water to affected areas so cleaning up in homes can start. How do families begin their cleaning up without having water? The risk of a disease outbreak should be wiped out even before it starts to breed.

By Friday, road contractors should have already been given the task to ensure accessibility is maintained via temporary access roads in places where there have been damages.

By Friday afternoon, a report of the damages done to structures, homes, and agriculture should already be compiled and sent to the appropriate authorities for the right actions to be taken.

Looking at the pace of things that are happening, it seems that a government team will depart for Savaii next week, take another week to finish their report and then another to submit it to the Government. By the time genuine action will be taken another bout of heavy rain would have brought about another bout of flooding.

There are three main elements for disaster operations, rescue, relief and recovery. The time for the rescue part is gone but we can still achieve the relief and recovery aspect of it. By Monday, the Government should also come up with relief packages for affected businesses.

People should be allowed to access a certain amount from their superannuation funds towards rebuilding their homes.

The other thing to consider now is that a pathway has been established for raging flood waters and the flooding will happen again given the amount of heavy rain. The ministry responsible should start looking at flood mitigation very seriously.

This is where building resilient infrastructure would come in handy.  The phenomenon of climate change will bring about heavier rainfall and this would lead to natural disasters.

 Ironically, the Transport and Infrastructure Sector Plan was launched on the day the floods happened.

The damage to the roads, waterworks and public utilities are surely into the millions. There is no quick rebuilding solution because a patch up job will only lead to further damages when a disaster happens.

But first things first, let us not have a repeat  of the inaction by the agency which is tasked to be the first responder.