Sun, 04 Oct 2009 5:24p.m.
By Adam Ray
While recovery efforts are continuing, residents of many villages in the disaster zone say they won't be returning home.
They are afraid of another tsunami, so are building new homes on higher ground.
Liana Sangale Boyce only escaped with her baby after her father yelled out when he saw the sea being sucked out. Her mother was killed by the wave that came.
"We never want to go back to see the ocean," she says. "We don't want to see the ocean any more."
Her family is one of 25 from the village of Saleapaga who have moved to higher ground. Their homes below are destroyed.
Faatasi Tupua's family all survived, but their home was washed away. All they have salvaged is the roofing iron.
"I think another tsunami will come in the future," he says. "That's why we are coming up here."
New homes are being built all along the devastated coast. Aid agencies are providing supplies, and family from other parts of Samoa are helping to build new shelter.
"There are a lot of people helping us out," says Ms Boyce.
The Samoan government now says it will cost at least $90 million to rebuild the infrastructure and houses destroyed by the tsunami, and they say that estimate will go even higher when all the damage is fully assessed.
Ms Boyce says they will build a new home in the hills, whatever the cost.
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