A typhoon that slammed Guam in the US territory in the Western Pacific on Thursday left most of the island without electricity and water but does not seem to have killed anybody or seriously injured many others.
Local media and the Guam Waterworks Authority said that citizens of Guam were instructed to boil their water until further notice as workers fixed generators that had been damaged by Typhoon Mawar.
The territory, one of the remote Mariana Islands, is roughly 6,000 miles west of Los Angeles and 2,500 miles east of the Philippines. The typhoon's 150-mile (241 km) per hour winds toppled trees and broke power lines, resulting in extensive power outages on the territory.
According to a Facebook post by the Guam Power Authority, crews were trying to restore power, giving priority to vital infrastructure like hospitals and wastewater facilities before moving on to households and businesses.
The power company said that as of the latest count on Wednesday afternoon, all 52,000 residences and businesses on the island lacked electricity, with the exception of 1,000. On Thursday evening, representatives of the power company were not immediately available for comment.
None of Guam's 170,000 residents were killed or seriously injured during the hurricane. Shelters on the island were home to around 980 individuals, according to a statement from Guam Homeland Security.
“I'm relieved that we're secure. Despite the storm, we survived. In a video message to the island's citizens, including the 10,000 U.S. military people who operate on a variety of U.S. facilities and institutions there, Governor Lou Leon Guerrero said that “the worst has passed.”
Social media users shared pictures of flooded streets, uprooted trees, and front yards covered with debris.
The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) said that the eye of Mawar, one of the worst storms to hit the island in decades, tracked just north of Guam early on Thursday. Mawar was moving slowly northwest at 8 mph and dropped up to 2 inches (5 cm) of rain per hour over the course of the night.
The storm's wind speeds classified it as Category 4, which is only less than Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale. The storm became stronger, reaching Super Typhoon status with wind gusts of 155 mph after crossing the island and continuing out to sea.
