HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — The first team for the GUAM STRONG program is expected to be on island by this weekend and, if everything moves smoothly, the first home repairs should start by the week of Aug. 21, according to discussions Wednesday at a special meeting of the Mayors’ Council of Guam.
GUAM STRONG, which stands for Guam Urgent Assistance Mobilized to Support Typhoon Repairs on Guam, is a housing repair program to provide essential repairs for victims of Typhoon Mawar.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency to recruit volunteer organizations from the continental U.S. to assist in the program.
The total cost of the project is $2 million. According to the initial announcement, the federal government will cover 75% of associated costs. The government of Guam will pay the remaining 25%, or $500,000.
According to Charles Craig, FEMA voluntary agency liaison, if all volunteering agencies participate during the period of performance, 125 homes will be repaired.
“If the work goes faster than our projections, we may be able to do more. But right now, 125 is what we are projecting for the program,” Craig told The Guam Daily Post on Thursday.
Residents will go through a referral process, by village mayors or nonprofit organizations, to take part in the program, according to Angel Sablan, executive director of the mayors’ council.
Earlier assistance
During Wednesday’s meeting, Sablan said residents assisted through the Roofing Installation Support Emergency Utilization Program, or RISE UP, still can receive assistance through GUAM STRONG. He also said the majority of mayors want to make the referrals for GUAM STRONG themselves.
RISE UP assisted homeowners whose roofs were damaged by the typhoon by installing temporary metal roofing. The Department of Defense and U.S. Army Corps of Engineers launched the program in coordination with FEMA, the Office of the Governor, Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense and the mayors’ council. The program installed 537 metal roofs.
Sablan brought up a concern Wednesday about wanting to get a list of individuals already assisted through RISE UP because some mayors want to provide assistance to different residents with GUAM STRONG. He said the mayor of Mangilao, for example, wants to get the list before deciding if he would make the referrals or allow a nonprofit to make those decisions.
“Before he decides to refer somebody else, he wanted to know whether he could find a list somewhere, somehow, that lets him know who in Mangilao was served by the RISE UP program because he wants to spread the program as much as possible, instead of just giving the same people again the same assistance,” Sablan said.
FEMA officials offered to reach out to the Army Corps of Engineers to try to get that information
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero speaks during a completion ceremony marking the final RISE UP roof repair July 27, 2023, in Dededo.