Samoans Abroad Pray for Family Back Home

Scores from California's Samoan community - many with traditional white flowers in their hair and clutching woven fans - gathered in church Thursday to pray for family members in tsunami-ravaged Samoa - some still waiting to hear from them.

In the sweltering Samoan Congregational Christian Church in Carson, Calif., roughly 200 people joined in a special twilight service in the aftermath of the devastating earthquake and tsunami that have left at least 160 dead.

Lusi Timai, 44, has been trying to reach her aunts and cousins in American Samoa since the tsunami hit Tuesday but can't get through.

"We just pray... we just come here to pray for them," she said, clutching the cell phone she's been using to call.

The urban sprawl south of Los Angeles is a hub for the Samoan community and ground zero for coordination of relief efforts that local community leaders are getting underway.

About 40 percent of the country's 72,000 Samoans live in California, according to data from the 2008 American Community Survey.

In the hours since the tsunami, local community leaders have fielded a stream of calls from Samoans frantically trying to reach their relatives. They also formed a network of clergy, community leaders and non-profits to harnass and transport donations of canned food, water, tarps and other necessities to the affected regions.

Outside the church on Thursday, local politicians offered to do what they could to help the communities in American Samoa and Samoa. Inside, the faithful belted out spiritual Christian songs to a band's music and batted themselves with fans to stay cool.

Aitofi Muaina, 62, came to pray for her 94-year old aunt who holed up on the second floor of her house in American Samoa while the ocean waters rushed in below.

"She's alive. It's all that counts," said Muaina, who traveled from Las Vegas for the service. "It's a miracle."