User:Jason Rees/Cyclone Val

Impact
The cyclone affected a total of seven island nation and territories of the South Pacific, with overall damage being estimated at over. The worst affected area was Samoa with damage equal to more than twice the gross domestic product of the island nation.

Western Samoa
Cyclone Val was the most destructive hurricane to strike Western Samoa, since the 1889 Apia cyclone which had struck the islands 102 years before.

The destruction caused by Val was primarily caused by high winds, heavy rains and high waves. Wind damage associated with the system was severe because of the duration of the cyclone and the shifting wind direction as the cyclone passed through the islands. Destructive winds and windborne debris wreaked heavy damage to crops, natural vegetation, buildings and related structures. Heavy rains caused flooding that damaged the environment and infrastructure, including roads and dams. High waves considerably damaged coastal areas and structures. The final damage total was estimated to be about, which was equal to more than twice the gross domestic product of Samoa.

Some of the facilities of the American Samoa observatory were damaged.

The cyclone destroyed over 65% of the residential homes on American Samoa and even more on the Samoan islands of Upolu and Savai'i. Cyclone Val cut communications and power lines on the islands. It devastated fire stations, hospitals, government buildings, schools, and churches, particularly wooden buildings of the pre World War I colonial era. Cyclone Val destroyed over 80% of agricultural crops. One of the first areas hit was the Western Samoan island of Savai'i, which was described as looking like an atomic bomb had hit. A local remarked that "there was no green, no buildings standing, no shelter; just total and complete devastation." Cyclone Val was reported to have killed 17 people and left 4,000 people homeless in American Samoa alone. Cyclone Val was assessed to have had an impact 50% worse than Cyclone Ofa, costing about $50 million in damage and putting a severe strain on agricultural production and the livelihoods of farmers on the islands. In Fagatele Bay at Tutuila Island, where Cyclone Val made a direct pass, the coral reef was completely destroyed. A large strip of the coast was also eroded. In response to this disaster, the NOAA deputed an assessment team to survey the damage to the reefs. In Tutuila, which accounts for 68% of American Samoa, the funicular railway, the longest single span cable way in the world, was permanently put out of service by Cyclone Val. The cable had previously connected Pago Pago harbor with the TV tower erected on Mt. Alava (491m). The TV tower at Utulei, one of the three TV channels in Samoa, was completely ruined by Cyclone Val, resulting in it being cannibalized for parts to maintain the two remaining channels. The Fagalele Boy's School, one of the oldest European-style buildings on the island in Leone, was destroyed by Cyclone Val. According to a report of Greenpeace mission, the airport of Western Samoa was also devastated. The cyclone killed 15 people in Western Samoa, and one person in American Samoa. Preliminary estimates put the damages at US $200 million in Western Samoa and US $50 million in American Samoa.

The damage caused by Cyclone Val was severe, as it occurred 18 months after Cyclone Ofa (February 1990). Food production was halted; forests were damaged, and animals and birds were lost. The forest loss was as severe as 45% of Savai'i's timber logs. The damage that Cyclone Val caused over the entire region of Samoa was reported to be US$ 368 million.

People were devoid of electricity for weeks and water supply for many days and depended on emergency aid. In Western Samoa (islands of Savai'i, Manono and Upolu), the percentage of damaged houses was as high as 80%. Val was reported as the worst cyclone to hit the Samoas in 100 years (since the 1889 hurricane), as measured by the intensity of the wind and the severity of the damage it caused to the islands.

American Samoa
The President of United States declared the event as a "major disaster", for which federal assistance was provided. The severity of Cyclone Val was aptly described by a local resident who stated: "But this Cyclone was stronger than me. For the first time I felt defeated I had never felt that before. I felt it was personal between me and Cyclone. I got depressed afterward." Aid was provided to the affected zones based on a categorization as Category A, B, C, D, E and F. The categories are defined by the degree of damage suffered. Assistance covered individuals, households, and the State and local governments. The assistance encouraged private, nonprofit organizations (NGOs) to meet and discuss expense-related emergency work and the repair or replacement of disaster-damaged infrastructure. Assistance provided "Hazard Mitigation Grants" to secure life and property from hazards. New Zealand and Australia provided considerable assistance to the affected population and helped with the reconstruction and recovery of infrastructure facilities. Samoans in the United states, Australia, and New Zealand helped finance the recovery by way of remittances to their relatives who suffered on the island.

Law suit
In 1991, American Samoa purchased a $45 million "all risk" insurance policy from the firm Affiliated FM Insurance. The firm would only pay up to $6.1 million for the damages, arguing that the insurance did not cover water damage, only that caused by the wind. Attorney William Shernoff investigated and discovered that the insurance company had altered American Samoa's insurance policy to exclude damages caused by "wind-driven water", despite the fact that it still covered cyclones. The case was taken to court, and in 1995, the jury awarded the American Samoa Government $28.9 million. Soon after, the amount was doubled to $57.8 million to include punitive damages. The total damages awarded by the judgment was $86.7 million, which the judge stated to be "the largest insurance bad faith verdict in the state of California in 1995".

The revenues of American Samoa for the fiscal years 2002 and 2003, which had been showing a downward trend, registered a substantial increase attributed to the insurance settlement of claims made to cover the damages caused by Cyclone Val. This resulted in fiscal surpluses. The deficit of US $23.1 million at the start of 2001 changed to a surplus of US $43.2 million by end of 2003.