There has also been widespread damage - although no known fatalities - in Fiji after the cyclone passed over.
Mr Esera said he had been trying to contact his Satitoa relatives for a week but had not been able to get through. However, he said he was not too worried about them. "I do think they will be okay. I know they haven't had electricity for a while and I expect the phone lines are down too," he said.
But he said it was heartbreaking for Satitoa residents to be facing this disaster not long after completing the rebuild of the village following a devastating tsunami in 2009. The tsunami struck Samoa's south coast, killing more than 200 people.
Fifteen people were killed by the tsunami in Satitoa and most of the buildings were destroyed. The village was rebuilt on higher ground, about 200m inland.
A special link was formed between Satitoa and Wanganui after the tsunami. Wanganui people gave more than $40,000 in donations for Satitoa, and the Wanganui District Council sent a team of people to Satitoa to build a pre-school for the village. Since then several teams of Wanganui people have visited the tiny village to help with the rebuild efforts.
Although there has yet been no word from Satitoa, Mr Esera said his brother had described scenes of terrible devastation in Apia.
"I think this will turn out to be a worse disaster than the tsunami because it is so widespread.
"The tsunami only affected the south coast - but this time the whole of Samoa has been affected."
Mr Esera, who is a regular visitor to Samoa, said he hoped to return after Christmas to see the damage for himself.
Meanwhile, Wanganui District Councillor Ray Stevens - who led the 2009 fundraising drive for Satitoa - said it was too soon to know whether another fundraising drive would be needed.
"No-one really knows what is happening in Satitoa yet and until we do, we can't get anything started," Mr Stevens said.