Woman helping in tsunami clear-up

Mr Smith was at a football match when his daughter texted

A Southampton woman caught up in the Pacific tsunami has been helping islanders in Samoa as they attempt to rebuild their lives.

Lana Smith, 25, was staying in a beach hostel on the Pacific island when the tsunami hit on Tuesday.

Her father, Jonathan Smith, says his daughter managed to hitch a lift to safety with a Samoan family.

Now she and other travellers stranded on the island are helping with the repair effort.

At least 129 people are known to have died on the island as a result of the disaster, while a further 40 people were killed on neighbouring islands American Samoa and Tonga.

Mr Smith said his daughter was expecting to be stranded on the island for at least two weeks because flights were oversubscribed.

He said: "We understand she's helping with the rescue.

"She's helping move things around, helping look after children while the adults carry on and repair their situation."

Lana, who just finished a five-year forensic science degree, had been backpacking around the world when the tsunami hit.

She sent a frantic message to her father, who was watching a football match at St Mary's stadium in Southampton.

It read: "Daddy, what do I do? I have been given 15 minutes warning that a tsunami will hit the island."

Mr Smith said: "I just thought of the Boxing Day tsunami - I just thought of a wall of water rushing towards the beach."

Despite calling and texting back, it was several hours before Mr Smith heard from his daughter again to let him know she was safe.

"She was in a beach hostel. She was quite lucky that a local Samoan was shouting at the time and she ran towards him and hitched a lift on the back of a pick-up to higher ground."

E-mail this to a friend

Printable version