HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — President Joe Biden has approved an emergency declaration for Guam in light of Supertyphoon Mawar, and has ordered federal assistance to supplement local response efforts, according to a release from the White House.
The declaration authorizes the the Federal Emergency Management Agency to coordinate all disaster relief efforts intended to alleviate hardships caused by the emergency, and to provide assistance for required emergency measures, the White House release stated.
“Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures (Category B), limited to direct federal assistance, under the public assistance program will be provided at 75% federal funding,” the release added.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero declared a state of emergency in anticipation of what was then Tropical Storm Mawar on May 21, stressing that Mawar represented an imminent, credible, and significant threat to the health, safety and welfare of Guam.
On May 22, the governor sent a letter to Biden, informing him that she had declared a state of emergency for Guam, and that supplementary federal assistance would be necessary to save lives and protect property on island.
“I request public assistance emergency protective measures, limited to direct federal assistance. Specific direct federal assistance needs include Department of Defense strategic airlift, mass care and sheltering commodities, and generators,” Leon Guerrero stated in her letter.
Guam’s governor certified to the president that the local government will assume “all applicable non-federal shared costs as required by the Stafford Act for this emergency.”
Leon Guerrero has designated Samantha Bernnan, the Guam Homeland Security adviser and acting administrator for the Office of Civil Defense, as the Guam coordinator officer for the emergency.
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, Mawar was categorized as a supertyphoon, having grown in intensity since the governor first declared the emergency.
Landon Aydlett, chief meteorologist for the National Weather Service on Guam, characterized Mawar as a benchmark storm that has the potential to be worse than Supertyphoon Pongosna in 2002.
“Specifically, FEMA is authorized to identify, mobilize, and provide at its discretion, equipment and resources necessary to alleviate the impacts of the emergency. Emergency protective measures (Category B), limited to direct federal assistance, under the public assistance program will be provided at 75% federal funding,” the release added.
Sinajana Mayor’s Office employee Auron Eclavea, right, and his brother David Eclavea, an Agana Heights Mayor’s Office employee, prepare bags of sand for residents in preparation ahead Supertyphoon Mawar at the Agana Heights Baseball Field on Tuesday.
