A widespread power outage affected multiple villages from early morning until late at night on Sunday, causing significant disruptions to daily life. Journalist Sulamanaia Manaui Faulalo and photojournalist Junior S Ami spoke to members of the public on their reaction to the island-wide power outage.

Tifaga (Letogo, 48 years old)

"The power was out from 8 am until 10 pm, which was very upsetting for the whole village. Many people had other tasks to do but couldn't complete them due to the outage. Essential household items like the fridge and radio were unusable. Getting ready for church was difficult—we had to go in unironed clothes. However, we are just thankful that the power came back in time for the children's school preparations the next day."

Sami (Fusi, Saoluafata, 32 years old)

"The weather played a big part in the outage—it was unpredictable, with frequent changes. Although our church service continued, we had to manage without the sound system when the power suddenly went off. The weather was nice during the day, so we’re not sure what exactly caused the power failure. Interestingly, the weather was terrible the whole week but the power was still working however, on Sunday it cleared up a bit but the power shut off."

Moemoe (Vaie’e, 51 years old)

"This power outage caused big problems. First, we couldn’t iron our clothes for church. Second, each family has only one fridge, and without power, all the food inside becomes spoiled - if the power continues to go on and off our fridge will no longer work properly and many of us don’t have the money to buy another fridge. Also - during our church service on Sunday, the pastor had to raise his voice because the microphone system was down. Despite these struggles, our faith in God remains strong."

Mafutaga (Vaitele Fou, 36 years old)

"The outage affected many things in our family, especially our TV and fridge. It also made it difficult to attend church with our clothes all wrinkly, which did not really look good."

Siaosi (Vaimoso, 32 years old)

"While we were in church, we were surprised when the microphone cut out and the lights went off while our church pastor was preaching. The lack of power also turned off many fans, making it extremely hot inside. We were unaware of what caused the outage at the time, but it did last a really long time. Many families, including ours, had to throw away a lot of meat because the fridges weren’t working. The power only returned back when it got dark but by then it was already too late, the foods in the fridge were not good enough to eat anymore."

Silupe Kepu (Vailima, 50 years old)

"A lot of families rely on electricity, and this outage caused many problems. The people need power. However, I want to acknowledge and thank the EPC workers for their hard work. They worked overtime, despite bad weather conditions, to restore power. If it were me, I wouldn’t want to be out there working in such strong wind and heavy rain. Moving forward, I hope this doesn’t happen again, and I urge the government to ensure better preparedness for these situations."