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South Pacific
Thu Jun 30, 2005
Listen in RealAudio 
Hi, I'm Bryan Yeaton for The Weather Notebook. Commentator Heather Liston takes us to the South Pacific:
I awoke on Monday morning to the sound of rain. I was on the island of Tutuila, in American Samoa, and it had been raining, more or less, since I arrived late Friday night. So I didn't give it much thought until I began listening to the radio.
"All government schools are closed today due to inclement weather," said the announcer. "Inclement weather?" I thought. "But we're in a rainforest ... isn't this normal?"
I looked outside. The rain was crashing down. It was pummeling the palm trees and knocking coconuts into the streets. The radio said we had gotten a full inch between 5 and 6 a.m. alone. Where I have been living in Santa Fe, an inch of rain in a month is cause for celebration.
This storm caused the worst flooding in the history of the territory. I was pretty proud of my timing, even if my wardrobe of silk suits and pumps was about as practical as the one Ginger had brought on her ill-fated three-hour tour.
A man from Seattle returned to the hotel. "I know what you're thinking," he said. "I brought this with me." With all due respect to Northwesterners, I wasn't thinking that at all. This was not the slow, grey drizzle of a spring day in Seattle. This was the Pacific Ocean trying fiercely to reclaim the small, upstart landmass in its midst.
We watched two Samoans -- giant men in tank tops and sarongs -- sitting on a fence with their backs to us, apparently in leisurely conversation. There may have been a bit more precipitation than usual, but they were in their element.
The Weather Notebook is supported by Subaru and the National Science Foundation.
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