KKHJ-FM and WVUV-FM operate from the second floor of Pago Plaza, right at the end of the harbor. The tsunami reached the second floor, although we managed to remain dry and mostly intact. The entire first floor of the building, which housed two jewelry stores, a vdeo store, a restaurant, the National Parks Service office, Social Security office, USDA office is gutted, Western Union, and several smaller stores, is gutted. We managed to activate EAS and air the tsunami warning twice, giving everyone about 10 mnutes warning. Not nearly enough, but it's all we had. We lost power minutes after the first wave hit. Our UPSs kept up going for a few more minutes, then we were off. The massive diesel generator in the parking lot was washed away. We managed to get WVUV-FM back on Wednesday, operating from the mountaintop transmitter site. KKHJ-FM came back on-air Thursday afternoon, but I'm not certain of the circumstances. I've been in Clarksdale and Cleveland all week and am somewhat helpless to offer them any help, but I'm going what I can. Death toll now stands at 31 in American Samoa. Luckily, all my staff is safe and accounted for. Please keep everyone in American Samoa in your thoughts and prayers. It will be over a year before things return to normal.
