HILO — Still reeling from the devastation to their homeland a day earlier, members of the local Samoan community spent yesterday grieving, trying to contact loved ones, and regretting they weren't with them.

One of the likely victims is the mother of Sugalu Timoteo, pastor of the 1st Samoan Congregational Christian Church in Hilo.
"I'm assuming she got caught ... by the tsunami," he said. "Up until now, they still haven't found her body."
Timoteo said he learned that his mother and a sister hugged each other during the earthquake.
"Right there she did a prayer, and then said she's going to work," he said of the family matriarch.
But that responsibility took her to a senior center located at the water's edge in the village of Fagagtoto in Samoa.
A brother dropped her off and stopped at a nearby store for coffee. His car was soon washed away, and he ran for higher ground.
"We was lucky," said Timoteo, a former rugby player with a gentle voice and eyes that reveal his emotions.
"It was hard to get contact. Sometimes you call two, three times," he said.
But phone calls also came from the affected areas.
"The last time I spoke to her was on Sunday night, and she called me up on Monday night, but I didn't get a chance to talk to her," Timoteo said of his mother, whom he described as his "great supporter."
Timoteo said he plans to return this week.
"Even if they can't find her body, we still have to have a service back home," he said.
The trip might be short, however, because Timoteo has to counsel people here while he himself grieves.
"Actually, I can't stay that long 'cause I have another congregation to serve," he said.
The Samoan church community in Hilo will hold a prayer service at 6 tonight at the Church of the Holy Cross. Everyone is welcome to attend the service, which is "not only to remember the victims' families, but it's a prayer for our people and our country as they go through a very difficult time," Timoteo said.
A similar event was held Tuesday night for UHH students at the Adult Student Housing, or ASH complex, adjacent to the campus.
More than 30 people participated, including non-Samoans, said Patea "Nu" Teofilo, a native of American Samoa.
Teofilo, who holds the title of chief, said his immediate family survived, but other relatives living in the area hardest hit by the waves remain missing.
"As of now, I'm not sure (if they survived) because they're still searching for people," he said. "They haven't heard anything from our other relatives yet."
The UHH Samoan Club, Tupulaga O Samoa Mo A Taeao, has about 60 members, most of whom come from American Samoa, said Ginger Hamilton, director of the school's Minority Access & Achievement Program.
"It's like a family within itself," she said of the close-knit Samoan community. "Even though they're miles from home, they all support one another."
Faamoana Roe, a senior majoring in administration of justice, called it a miracle that she heard from her sister and mother in American Samoa. The first call came as the waves were toppling homes and buildings.
"My mother called me ... and said, 'No matter what, I love you,'" Roe said, adding she didn't initially understand why her mother was crying.
And then a final message before the phone went dead: "I'll see you in heaven."
Although they survived, Roe said she was still seeking news of other family members, which has left her "hanging by a thread."
"I'm honoring them the best way I can by doing what I came here to do," she said of staying in school.
Tagiilima Ripley, a UHH senior majoring in kinesiology, said she used to take tsunami warnings "lightly," but won't anymore after her mother reported seeing a whale left on a reef by the receding tides.
Ripley said she's "deeply remorseful" that she was not with family in American Samoa when the waves hit.
"We just want to go back home and clean," she said.