10/30/2009
GARY DEMUTH
When Steve Ade flew to American Samoa last month, he expected the worst.
By the time the Salina resident left the South Pacific island three weeks later, he had seen the best of humanity.
Ade, a volunteer for the North Central Kansas Chapter of the American Red Cross, flew to Samoa a couple of days after an 8.0 magnitude earthquake Sept. 29 triggered a towering tsunami in the Pacific Ocean that caused massive destruction to the island.
“I was called on the 30th and was there by (Oct. 1),” said Ade, who retired from the Salina Fire Department five years ago.
When he arrived on the island, Ade was shocked at what he saw.
“Things were still pretty rough when I got there,” he said. “The power was out to the majority of the island and there was no potable water. There were quite a number of folks who were homeless.”
Ade spent three weeks in Samoa as deputy mass care administrator for the American Red Cross. During recovery efforts, Ade found the Samoan people had a strength, resiliency and graciousness in the face of disaster that impressed and moved him.
“They were really thankful we came to help them,” Ade said. “And they wanted to help us as much as we wanted to help them.”
American Samoa is a U.S. territory with about 60,000 residents, according to a New York Times report, and many of these residents were busy getting ready for work or preparing their children for school when the early morning earthquake and tsunami struck.
Soon after the devastation occurred, President Barack Obama declared the island a disaster area and ordered federal aid to supplement recovery efforts.
The American Red Cross was part of the relief effort, and when Ade was called to assist, he didn’t hesitate.


Read more about the volunteer effort in Saturday's Salina Journal.