President Barack Obama declared American Samoa a natural disaster area and ordered FEMA and the Coast Guard to assist in the recovery effort.

It was good news American Samoans living in Michiana who are coping with the disaster back home.

Family members told Nama Neufeldt, a faculty member at Andrews University, about six people in her village were killed in the tsunami. She's still waiting to hear about family and friends closer to the coast and in Western Samoa.

"Samoans are survivors. we've gone through this many times before, with hurricanes," said Neufeldt. "Samoans can build a house in one day, a hut, just to have something to live in until things are back in order as they were before."

Tiare Kitiona was raised in American Samoa and is now a senior at Andrews.

Her family lives towards the center of the island and was not directly hit by the tsunami. Her cousin sent her pictures of the downtown area that was hardest hit.

She said her family still has phone and internet service and schools in the village are still continuing.

"They're doing alright," said Kitiona. "They're survivors and they know what to do. They're always constantly on their feet, using their brains, thinking what they need to do and how to do it, i believe in them, and i know they believe in themselves."

Neither has plans to return home anytime soon, instead of paying for a plane ticket, they said they would rather send the cash to their families to pay for damages.

American Samoa is a U.S. territory about halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand and is in the

Samoa is an independent nation comprising of the other islands in the area.