The flash floods that struck Savai'i last Thursday have forced local beach fales to temporarily close after the deluge partially destroyed their properties.

In an exclusive interview with the Sunday Observer, the owner of the Lauiula Beach Fales in Lano, Iiga Salanoa Richard Ah Chong described what happened last Thursday as the "worse flooding ever" in history and indicated this is the first time they've been badly affected by flooding. 

"This is because of our location and to make it worse there is no bridge there where the ford is to help clear or make way for the water from the river banks to flow straight to the ocean," said I'iga. "It has been a problem for our village for so many years and also for members of the public residing in Savai'i. 

"During the rainy season and bad weather conditions, it's always difficult for people to cross to the other side because of the strong flow from the river and because it was too strong and was raining heavily, the water spread across the island and swept off the sand which made it worse for us. Some of the fales we have on the beach have been destroyed."

I'iga said they were expecting to host a lot of tourists in the coming weeks, especially those who made bookings with them from different parts of the world.

"The reality is, we were slowly getting back into business after the lockdown and restrictions imposed by COVID-19," he added. "We were happy that we were starting to go back to how things were before COVID-19. 

"But unfortunately, just when things started to go well, this happened and there is nothing we can do about it."

He said they will now have to close for a while so they can fix the damage and hope they will be able to open again sometime soon.

"We have to apologise to those who booked with us and who were planning to stay with us. It's hard because we were looking forward to hosting all our guests who have been dying to come and spend the holiday here with us. 

"But the good thing is they understand that this was not anyone's fault and that it was a natural disaster and these things can be unpredictable. We feel sorry for them because they will now have to look for other places on the island because we need to fix the damages first."

I'iga said he is hoping the Government can step in and assist those who were affected by the flash floods, adding, "We would appreciate any help they can offer". 

"If not for those families and businesses that were affected, but maybe do something about the fords and consider building a bridge here at Lano and Sapapali'i. 

"They have been saying for so many years that they were going to prioritise building a bridge here but nothing has been done yet. The former administration made that promise to us but we are still suffering because nothing has been done yet. 

"So we are hoping that the new government would do something and finally make it a priority to build bridges for Lano and Sapapali'i and also build good quality sea walls to protect our homes and properties from the rising sea level and the dangerous flooding."

I'iga said they had guests over on Thursday when the flash flooding happened and they managed to help them out of the fales to higher ground. On Saturday morning, the management of Lauiula Beach Fales officially announced that they have decided to temporarily shut down business operations until 16 June 2023. 

"With humility and love to all our confirmed guests and prospective guests, respectfully wish to advise that LAUIULA BEACH FALES was partly affected by the worst flooding ever in our history on Thursday 8, June 2023," the notice reads. "We are now temporarily closed for business and we will resume normal operations on Friday 16, June 2023.

"Our air condition unit will not be operable until Thursday 22, June 2023. We thank you all for your invaluable support and understanding."

The Government is yet to issue a statement on whether they will be offering assistance to the families and businesses affected by the flash floods last Thursday. Prime Minister, Fiame Naomi Mata'afa has not responded to questions from this newspaper on the issue. However, this newspaper understands that the Minister for Works, Transport and Infrastructure, Olo Fiti Va'ai and his staff were in Savai'i on Friday inspecting the damage from the flash floods and also visited affected families.