Chainsaws whirred Friday as neighbors helped neighbors clear top trees and began clearing debris Typhoon Mawarwhich hit Guam as the worst typhoon to hit the island in over two decades, but appears to have passed without leaving any death or widespread destruction in its wake.
Although restoration work was just beginning, Police Sergeant Paul Tapao said there appeared to be no major damage, major roads were passable, and “Guam was very lucky that there were no fatalities or injuries from the hurricane.” serious injury. “
For Tapao, the roar of power saws was a reminder of the resilience of the storm-prone US Pacific and its people.
TYPHOON “MAWAR” WILL AFFECT GUAM, DISCONNECTING THE POWER SUPPLY AND FORCING THE WATER TO BOIL
“Everyone helps with cleaning,” he said. “This is the Guam way – it’s in the blood.”
He added that Chamorro, the language of the indigenous people of the Mariana Islands, has a saying “inafa maolek”, which means cooperation, the concept of restoring harmony or order.
“Storms have taught our island to be resilient,” he said. “We’re still here.”
However, officials said it could take weeks to clean up the mess after Mawar briefly made landfall in a Category 4 storm on Wednesday evening on the northern tip of an island of roughly 150,000 people, flipping cars, blowing off roofs and leaving the trees bare.
Some villages had little or no water on Friday, Tapao said. About 51,000 customers were left without power, according to the Federal Emergency Management Agency. There were 725 people in shelters on Friday, compared to nearly 1,000 on Thursday, officials said.
Water floods a building in Hagatne, Guam, May 25, 2023, after Typhoon Mawar passed through the area. (AP Photo/Grace Garces Bordallo)
Water pollution from heavy rainfall and runoff has been a concern: The Guam Water Authority issued a notice advising residents to boil water before drinking it, and the Guam Environmental Protection Agency warned people to stay away from the sea at all beaches due to the high content of bacteria. .
More than 2 feet of rain fell in the central and northern parts of the island as the eye wall passed. The swirling typhoon caused storm surge and waves that crashed against offshore reefs and flooded homes.
In the southeastern village of Yona, floodwaters reached waist high in the home of Alexander’s mother-in-law and sister-in-law, Ken M. Aflag, he said. Two trucks and an SUV were completely flooded.
Aflage said the mood on the island was like after every storm as people assess the damage and try to get back to normal. He was most concerned about shortages as stocks were at levels similar to those in the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Cleaning is a struggle, but we all step in and help each other,” he said in a text message.
GUAM EMERGENCY SHELTS BEGIN TO FILL AS RESIDENTS PREPARE FOR TYPHOON MAWAR
Also in Yon, the wind ripped off the roof of Enrique Baza’s mother’s house, allowing the water to damage everything inside. According to him, his mother survived the storm with him in his concrete house, but “my mother’s house did not survive.”
He drove a pickup truck after the hurricane passed looking for materials to fix her roof, but most of the stores were out of power and only accepting cash. Many wooden or tin houses were badly damaged or completely collapsed.
“It’s kind of a shock,” Baza said.
On Friday, President Joe Biden said there was a major disaster in Guam and ordered federal assistance to supplement recovery efforts.
On Friday, there were long queues at ATMs, in some stores and at gas stations.
Officials said they expect to resume operations at the flooded AB Won Pat International Airport next Tuesday.
Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero gave a clear Thursday evening, returning the island to its usual state of alert when the National Weather Service raised the typhoon watch.
“We weathered the storm,” said Leon Guerrero.
CLICK HERE TO GET THE FOX NEWS APP
The storm will continue to move northwest before turning sharply north on Tuesday or Wednesday, according to Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau. This trail will keep the typhoon at sea for several days as it gradually weakens.
Mawar regained its super typhoon status on Thursday as winds reached 150 mph, according to the weather service.
On Friday morning, the center of Mawar was 345 miles west-northwest of Guam and 360 miles west of Rota, Guam’s northern neighbor, moving west-northwest at 14 miles per hour.
Carlo Quinones, who lives near Tamuning, said he survived the storm at the hotel and felt “very lucky” that the building was largely undamaged. According to Quinones, a nearby derelict building has lost many windows and part of a wall on the fifth floor.
“It was a peak that made us question our safety. Floors rattle, walls creak. Debris, roots and fruit are scattered everywhere,” he wrote in an email.
The Navy has ordered the aircraft carrier strike group USS Nimitz to head to the island to assist in the recovery, a US official said. The Nimitz, along with the cruiser USS Bunker Hill and the destroyer USS Wayne E. Meyer, were south of Japan and were due to arrive in Guam in three or four days, the official, who asked not to be named, said. to discuss the movement of ships not yet made public.