The Hawaii chapter of the American Red Cross is sending about a dozen volunteers to Guam to help residents affected by Typhoon Pongsona, which ravaged the island Sunday. Red Cross prepares
storm relief for Guam
Staff and news services
"We got our people packing," said Glenn Lockwood, director for the American Red Cross Disaster Services for Hawaii.
The volunteers are expected to stay in Guam for at least three weeks, Lockwood said.
The number of storm-related deaths has not been determined.
However, an official at Guam Memorial Hospital confirmed at least one death, that of a woman who suffered a severe cut and went into cardiac arrest.
President Bush declared the U.S. territory a federal disaster area on Sunday, and officials from the Federal Emergency Management Agency began preliminary assessments of damage.
An 11-member Coast Guard Pacific Strike Team from Novato, Calif., will also be involved in relief efforts. Members were expected to arrive at Hickam Air Force Base last night to board a cargo plane en route to Guam. The strike team was carrying water, generators and equipment to restore navigation capabilities.
Meanwhile, several Hawaii Air National Guard KC-135 Stratotankers, with 19 civil engineers and other personnel from the 15th Air Base Wing, were sent yesterday from Hickam Air Force Base with supplies. The $15,000 worth of relief supplies included lumber, fencing, batteries and other construction materials.
The U.S. Pacific Fleet, headquartered in Pearl Harbor, plans to airlift more than $4 million worth of supplies and services to Guam. Generators will be sent from Hawaii and California with electrical repair trucks flown in from Australia. The Navy also plans to fly a large quantity of medical supplies and pharmaceuticals from Japan to Guam.
The entire island was without electricity, and water and sewer systems are not expected to be fully operational for several weeks, Gov. Carl Gutierrez said yesterday.
Pongsona blew across the island for hours. The sustained wind speed was estimated at 150 mph around the eye of the storm, giving Pongsona "supertyphoon" status.
"The ocean came up like a wall and spilled everything into the roads," resident Josephine McKeever said. "It was an angry ocean. If you saw the ocean, you would be terrified. It was very frightening."
