Posted on: Thursday, July 11, 2002

Army engineers help Guam after typhoon

Advertiser Staff

The Pacific Ocean Division of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers is in Guam clearing roads of debris, restoring electricity, building temporary roofs and providing portable ice and water to residents after Typhoon Chata'an hammered Guam and Chuuk last week with 100-mph winds and heavy rain.

Working under the Federal Emergency Management Agency, civilian engineers, emergency workers and soldiers from the 249th Engineer Battalion were sent to Guam, a U.S. territory, after it was declared a federal disaster area on Saturday. As many as 1,800 people were staying in emergency shelters.

When an expected disaster declaration is made for Chuuk, additional Army emergency workers will be sent. Major mudslides on Chuuk destroyed an estimated 1,000 homes and killed more than 30 people.

Chuuk is one of the four states that make up the Federated States of Micronesia, which gets emergency assistance under a treaty with the United States.