New Leeds Carnegie signing Henry Fa'afili is like thousands of Samoans around the globe as he waits for news of relatives back home in Samoa following the tsunami overnight in the Pacific.

Fa'afili only arrived in England on Sunday to join up with his new club having flown from Auckland however he heard the news of the devastation in his home country on Tuesday night.

He commented, "I was watching the news with my partner when it came on about Samoa and American Samoa being hit by the tsunami. It is terrible news for Samoa and my thoughts are with everyone who has been caught up in the tragedy.

"My immediate family are okay but we are unable to hear anything about my other relatives in Samoa because the power is down and the phone lines are not working.

"It appears that American Samoa has been worst hit whilst the coastal villages in Samoa have been the ones that have been destroyed by the tsunami. We are only a small country and this is a devastating blow," added Fa'afili.

Fa'afili has been in touch with team mate Alfie To'oala as well as Willie Poching, Ali Lauitiiti and Kylie Leuluai from the Leeds Rhinos to share information on the tragedy. He added, "We are all in pretty much the same situation. It is hard to get news on who has been effected exactly and we just have the pictures coming out on the news to show how bad the disaster has been."

Click here to visit the New Zealand Red Cross website where you can make a donation to help the relief effort in Samoa and American Samoa.