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Standing Strong: Guam’s Resilience in the Aftermath of Super Typhoon Mawar

June 1, 2023

Amid the extensive damage caused by Super Typhoon Mawar, the District Vice President of the Machinists Union in Guam, is encouraging residents to seek help from the Machinists Union Disaster Relief Fund.

Vice President Sharon Sugiyama said the fund offers immediate support to union members and their families following natural disasters. Sugiyama has committed to helping affected Union Members find and complete the paperwork to apply for assistance.

Sugiyama underscored the high need for assistance among the approximately 800 United employees on the island, some of whom had suffered damage to homes, and many others prevented from working due to the storm.

“Right now, there’s an urgent need for things like gas and water, and especially electricity,” she said of the damage left in the wake of the storm. “Lines for gas are unbelievable,” she continued, adding that cars are waiting hours in lines more than four miles long. “We’re missing things like ice and water,” she added.

Established to provide swift assistance in instances of natural disasters, the IAM Disaster Relief Fund has been a lifeline for its members and their families in times of need. It assists those impacted by natural disasters, often before other sources of aid can react.

The Disaster Relief assistance program is funded by direct, voluntary contributions from Machinists Union Members.

The Pacific Island of Guam, a U.S. territory, is undergoing an extensive cleanup following last week’s devastation caused by Typhoon Mawar. When the Typhoon made landfall, its projected continuous winds of 140 mph led to the destruction of homes, upended vehicles, and caused the demolition of wind sensors at the airport, which recorded a gust of 105 mph. The breadth of the damage is such that only aerial images can genuinely illustrate the vast extent of the destruction.

The Governor of Guam, Lou Leon Guerrero, said in a social media post that the island had endured “an alarming ordeal unmatched in over twenty years.”

In the Western Pacific, typhoons are tropical cyclones with intensity equivalent to hurricanes.

Nearly 98% of Guam experienced a power outage during the Typhoon. The governor told news agencies it took almost two days for the Guam Power Authority to fully restore power to the Guam Memorial Hospital. Workforces are operating on round-the-clock shifts to reestablish electricity throughout the island.

A National Weather Service meteorologist provided a disturbing description of the aftermath in a Facebook video update after the storm’s departure, saying, “As we observe from our doors, what once was a lush jungle now resembles a forest of splintered wood.”

Guam serves as an essential base for U.S. forces in the Pacific, with approximately 6,800 service members stationed on the island. In response to the storm, military officials executed evacuation procedures for personnel, dependents, and employees, dispatched ships to safer waters, and either relocated aircraft off the island or secured them in protective hangars.

United Airlines, a significant employer on the island, has approximately 800 employees in Guam and many hundreds more across national airports who hail from the North Pacific Island.

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