Typhoon Mawar batters Guam; what used to be jungle looks like tooth picks
HAGATNA, Guam — Guam’s governor gave the all-clear Thursday after Typhoon Mawar tore through the remote U.S. Pacific territory the night before, ripping off roofs, shedding trees and leaving much of the island of about 150,000 people without power and utilities.
There were minor injuries reported but no fatalities, according to the office of Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero. She declared the “all clear” Thursday evening, returning the island to its typical condition of typhoon readiness as the National Weather Service lifted a typhoon watch.
She thanked the people of Guam for keeping themselves safe and protected during the storm.
“We now continue to focus our efforts on repairing infrastructure and restoring services to residents,” Leon Guerrero said in a statement. “After speaking with department leaders and seeing the incredible rapid response to the storm I am confident we will make significant progresses towards restoration of services.”
Survey and work crews were assessing damage at military installations, which were limited to essential personnel only, according to Joint Region Marianas.
The central and northern parts of the island received more than 60 centimetres of rain as the eyewall passed. The island’s international airport flooded and the swirling typhoon churned up a storm surge and waves that crashed through coastal reefs and flooded homes.
“We are waking up to a rather disturbing scene out there across Guam. We’re
looking out our door and what used to be a jungle looks like toothpicks – it looks like a scene from the movie ‘Twister,’ with trees just thrashed apart,” Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service, said in a briefing streamed online.
“Most of Guam is dealing with a major mess that’s going to take weeks to clean up,” he added.
The strongest typhoon to hit the territory of roughly 150,000 people since 2002, Mawar briefly made landfall around 9 p.m. Wednesday as a Category 4 storm at Andersen Air Force Base on the northern tip of the island, weather service officials said.
The scope of the damage was difficult to ascertain early on, with power and internet failures making communication on the far-flung island difficult. Leon Guerrero said in a video message late Thursday morning that roads were passable, but residents should avoid driving and stay home due to ongoing strong winds.
“We have weathered the storm,” Leon Guerrero said, adding that “the worst has gone by.”
Guam Power Authority said crews were working to restore power to critical and priority facilities such as a hospital, water wells and wastewater facilities. Guam Waterworks Authority was working to restore water service and had issued a notice advising customers to boil water.
The A.B. Won Pat International Airport Guam completed damage inspections, with recovery underway. The airport will accommodate humanitarian and cargo flights to Guam.
The storm is expected to move northwest for days over a large, empty of expanse of ocean and enter the Philippine “area of responsibility” late Friday or early Saturday. Philippine President Ferdinand Marcos Jr. said on Facebook that officials are preparing, and that the storm could bring heavy rainfall and flooding.
The storm could threaten Taiwan next week. It strengthened to 266 km/h winds Thursday and regained its status as a super typhoon, according to the weather service. Mawar, a word that means “rose” in Malay, was forecast to maintain that intensity for the next two days.
By Thursday night, Mawar was centered 314 kilometres northwest of Guam.