Support for Guam hits high gear
By Walter Wright
Advertiser Staff Writer
Hawai'i is pressing ahead with relief efforts for victims of Typhoon Pongsona on Guam.
Pacific Daily News via Associated Press
Federal officials at the disaster scene said yesterday that the island territory welcomes the support.
Resident Kin Sablan cleans up debris last Thursday, four days after Typhoon Pongsona hit Guam and destroyed a storage shed at his home. The storm, which struck last Sunday with 180-mph winds, destroyed more than 1,700 homes and damaged more than 2,000.
"We have felt the wishes and the support from the people in Hawai'i," said David Fukutomi, the coordinating officer for the Federal Emergency Management Agency, who arrived with an advance team in time to ride out the storm with the people of Guam.
Fukutomi came in on Continental Flight 1, the last plane into Guam the night before the storm hit, and spent the storm in the Marriott Hotel, watching windows popping out of the building "and cars flying through the air. When it was over, cars were stacked up like cordwood in the parking areas outside," he said.
In Honolulu, Mayor Jeremy Harris said that 10 fire stations on O'ahu would begin accepting donations of food and household supplies for typhoon victims today and for the next month.
Harris had spoken with Guam officials by telephone and offered help. "The devastation on that tiny island is unbelievable. Fires are raging, utilities have been decimated, and there is a severe shortfall of the basic necessities of life."
Harris said the city would provide collection points for donations of food and household supplies at fire stations at Kalihi Kai, Kuakini, Waikiki, Hawai'i Kai, Kane'ohe, Kailua, Waipahu, Kapolei, Mililani Mauka and Moanalua. Donations will be accepted until Jan. 17 from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m.
Harris said the city could not accept money and that checks should be made out to The American Red Cross and mailed to American Red Cross, Hawai'i State Chapter, 4155 Diamond Head Road, Honolulu, HI 96816.
The Red Cross chapter here said it is supporting the relief efforts on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
"Initial Red Cross damage assessment indicates that 1,751 homes have been destroyed, another 2,048 sustained major damage, and 4,692 received minor damage," said Cassandra Ely, interim CEO for the Red Cross in Hawai'i.
The Hawai'i Convention Center's management company, SMG, announced it would offer the center as a drop-off point for food and household items needed in Guam from 8 a.m. to noon today.
That effort was spurred by Honolulu public relations executive Ruth Limtiaco, who is married to a Guamanian and lived in Guam for 14 years. She wanted to help another public relations professional, Barbara Pleadwell, find a place to receive donated items for a container being sent to Guam on Wednesday.
In addition to the center and the fire stations, Hawai'i Modular Space is accepting donations at their lot at 91-282 Kalaeloa Blvd. in Kapolei.
A Fort Shafter-based Army Corps of Engineers team had emergency operations centers up and running with 100 soldiers and civilians on the job before the typhoon hit Dec. 8.
The Corps' Pacific Ocean Division and Honolulu District emergency responders are being augmented by employees from around the Corps, said division commander Brig. Gen. Ronald Johnson.
U.S. Pacific Fleet Commander Adm. Walter F. Doran, who visited Navy facilities on Guam Friday, said that no one on Guam escaped the "dramatic" devastation when the typhoon hit the community "very hard and very quickly."
The fleet has been sending resources to Guam help the recovery, and Doran said Navy families and civilians are "pitching in and working as a team to rebuild their lives."
Reach Walter Wright at wwright@honoluluadvertiser.com or 525-8054.
