"Itisanillwindthatblowsnogood."AtyphoonthatstruckthePacificislandsofSamoa120yearsagohelpedillustratethissaying.
CivilwarbrokeoutinSamoainthe1880s.AsboththeUnitedStatesandGermanyhadcommercialinterestsintheislands,threeAmericanwarshipsweredispatchedtoSamoawhenGermanyintervenedinthewarin1889.Conflictseemedunavoidable.On19March,thoughtheweatherwasvisiblythreatening,thewarshipsfromthetwonationswouldnotsailtosafetyandrelinquishtheirpositionsinApiaharbour.
Soonafterwardsasavagetyphoonbroke.Shipscollidedwitheachotherorweredrivenontothesurroundingcoralreefsandsank.Inthesehorrendousconditions,theships'crewscametoeachothers'rescue.Thenaturaldisastereasedpoliticaltensions,andadiplomaticsolutionwasagreedupon.
「惡風也會有善果。」一百二十年前吹襲太平洋薩摩亞群島的颱風，可以說明這句西方諺語。
一八八○年代，薩摩亞爆發內戰。美、德兩國在當地都有商業利益，因此，一八八九年德國插手戰事，美國也就派遣三艘戰船到薩摩亞。衝突看來勢難避免。三月十九日，天氣明顯變得惡劣，但兩國戰船都守着阿皮亞海港的陣地，不肯開到安全水域。
不久，猛烈的颱風降臨。那些戰船或互相碰撞，或撞向周圍的珊瑚礁上，損毀沉沒。各戰船在這可怕處境之中，互相救助。天災緩和了政治的緊張關係，兩國的紛爭終於憑外交解決。