Heavy rain in Samoa causes flooding, infrastructure damage

Flooding has hit parts of Samoa after heavy downpours. Photo / Samoa Land Transport Authority

By RNZ

Flooding has hit parts of Samoa today as a heavy downpour damaged homes and infrastructure.

The island of Savaii is the most affected with roads submerged by overflows, reports of damaged roads and bridges, power outages and school closures.

Samoa Meteorology Division officer Silipa Mulitalo said the rain and flooding have subsided, but they are continuing to closely monitor the weather system.

Flooded village on Savaii, on the east of Samoa has closed several roads after heavy rain in the Pacific Island nation. Photo / Leapaga TS Moni

The capital, Apia, along with most parts of Upolu have been largely unaffected by the rain.

“We are seeing decreasing rainfall,” Mulitalo said.

“So, we can imagine that in the next 6 to 12 hours for all the rainfall to run off to the ocean but there’s still a lot of moisture around,” she said.

“But in the next 24 hours there is still the potential of heavy downpours.”

The bad weather has disrupted the inter-island ferry service between Upolu and Savaii.

The Samoa Shipping Corporation Limited said its services between Salelologa and Mulifanua have been delayed by the poor weather.

Footage from unprecedented flooding in our village today. Everyone is fine but the damage is extensive. The graves are intact thankfully. The last time it was like this was Cyclone Ofa in the 1990s. This is our family home, she still stands.

📸Neil Tiatia pic.twitter.com/pCHtuuG71k

— lagipoiva (@lagipoiva) June 8, 2023

Heavy rain warning

In its latest weather update at 5pm today, the Samoa Meteorological Division said the heavy rain has resulted in numerous flooding reports on Savai’i Island.

“More than 300mm [was] recorded from Vai’a’ata since midnight [Wednesday]. However, such conditions remain persistent over the island chain for now although Upolu may not face an imminent threat as the big island.”

The Met Division warned the poor weather would bring “heavy downpours with poor visibility, foggy and slippery roads over mountain passes and ranges, pooling near roadsides and waterways with possible landslides to prone areas. Expect gusty winds at times.”