New River family attempts to rebound following tsunami
Marc Buckhout ~ Managing Editor ~ 10/21/2009

Lewis and Namoye Burch of New River have been living a dream for most of the last four years.

After Lewis retired from teaching in 2004 the couple, who have lived in New River since 1980, and their 13-year-old daughter, Merritt, left their life in the desert for one on the ocean.

“It’s one of those standard dreams to drop everything and go see the world,” he said.

Starting in Portland, Oregon, where they bought their sail boat “Sunshine”, a 32-foot Coronado, the family has lived on the water for most of the last four years.
“Its never been about seeing a particular place, it’s just always being excited about the next destination,” Lewis said.

While they’ve lived the dream, traveling south on the Pacific Ocean through Central America and then South America, the last month can only be described as a nightmare.
On Sept. 30 the family was just getting going in the morning with their boat anchored in a harbor in American Samoa, located approximately halfway between Hawaii and New Zealand, when it quickly became apparent that something was amiss.

“It was just before 7 a.m. and I was getting my first sip of coffee when this rumbling noise started,” Lewis said. “It sounded like a motor. I thought the boat next to us might have started up, but when it wasn’t that it occurred to me that it might have been an earthquake.”

An immediate check online showed reports of a magnitude 7.9-level earthquake showing up, but a report that no tsunami would be generated.

An uneasy Lewis went to have another sip of coffee when he knew they were in serious trouble.

“Wham, the water just dropped right out of the harbor,” he said. “We had a couple minutes to try and cut the ropes, as the water dropped maybe 10-15 feet. We were trapped at that point. We put on our life jackets as the wind did a funny thing, not something I’ve experienced before and I just got this awful feeling.”

What came next were waves unlike the family had seen in any of their time on the water.

“It was probably 10 feet high and it just picked us up like a giant hand,” he said. “It did a swivel thing, picked us up and turned us around twice in five seconds.”

From there they were sent hurtling inland.

“We were on what probably built to a 20 foot wave, soaring over what was dry land seconds ago, going over homes,” he said. “I thought we were dead. I prayed to God, because that’s what people do when you think you’re about to die and then I prayed to Sunshine to stay together.”

The terrifying ride eventually came to an end with the boat still occupying the Burch family coming to rest approximately .5 miles inland in the parking lot of the local LDS church.

The earthquake that caused the tsunami was later measured to be a magnitude-8.3 earthquake, striking 190 kilometers southwest of American Samoa. The natural disaster killed 32 in American Samoa and an additional 143 in Samoa.

The Burch family said amid their ordeal they saw people running and screaming only to be overcome by waves.

The scene after the water began to recede was chaotic.

“Piles of trees, parts of houses, fish all over the place,” Lewis said. “The destruction is immense. Things and people’s lives have been devastated.”

More than two weeks after the incident the reality of the family’s situation is grim.

“We’re in complete refugee mode,” he said. “Our boat was heavily looted after the incident. It’s in pretty bad shape. I paid to have it moved back to the wharf so I can try to fix it, but it needs a lot of work.”

While the Red Cross helped in the short term the present situation isn’t very optimistic.
“We were getting low on cash and considering returning home before this happened,” he said. “As of now my wife and daughter are sharing a two person tent and I’m sleeping on a cot under a tarp. Unfortunately it rains here all the time.”

Beyond the bare necessities of food and shelter Lewis said there are a couple of mental hurdles to be cleared.

“I think I started to come out of my funk just yesterday,” he said of the life-altering event. “I haven’t really been able to figure out what to do with my time. Cruisers and yahtees are I think the freest people in the world, so to be shore bound for this amount of time is very difficult. Not having a door to a home is also very hard, but I think we’re starting to get back on track.”

The former teacher said he is considering looking into teaching in American Samoa to make enough money to either fix the boat, buy a new one or perhaps return to Arizona.

For Meritt Burch’s account of the family’s ordeal go to www.thefoothillsfocus.com/102109-TsunamiTeenStory. Those interested in contacting the family can do so at wavesails@netzero.net.