By Jolene Toves
For Variety
HAGÅTÑA (The Guam Daily Post) — By 8 a.m. Monday, emergency storm shelters operated at seven Guam Department of Education schools were filled to 18% total capacity, but by the afternoon Machananao Elementary School was at full capacity.
The maximum capacity of the seven emergency storm shelters is 2,623, and throughout the day, numbers at shelters in the north, central, and south fluctuated. In total, 748 people were reported at 2:30 p.m., less than half the total maximum capacity.
At Machananao Elementary School, the Yigo campus quickly filled in less than 24 hours. By 8 a.m., there were 283 occupants, and by 2:30 p.m., 303 were reported. In Dededo, Astumbo Elementary School, which saw 197 people in the morning, went up to 205 by the afternoon, while Maria Ulloa Elementary School reached nearly half capacity since opening on Sunday at 6 p.m., with 142 sheltering.
Shelters in the south, however, did not see as many people seeking shelter from the storm. Inalåhan Middle School reported 14 people with a max capacity of 352. Talo’fo’fo Elementary saw 18 shelterees with a max capacity of 311.
In Malesso’, which, according to Post files on Dec. 24, 2025, saw immense flooding after 5 inches of rainfall in an hour, Mayor Franklin Champaco told the Post he noted roughly 20 people sheltering at the Merizo Martyrs Memorial Elementary School as of 7 a.m., Monday. At 8 a.m., the Joint Information Center recorded 22.
When asked about the low turnout to the shelter, he noted concern for village residents choosing to hunker down in flood-prone areas rather than seeking out the emergency storm shelter that sits atop Pigua.
“Oh yeah, definitely. I just came from there. I visited them. There are some families there that do stay at those homes that usually flood, so they are there, and I’m in actually direct contact with a lot of them. That’s the flood-prone areas, the houses. So we’re just, we’re tracking them and just making sure they’re OK, but yeah, there is, there’s quite a few from the low-lying areas that are there at the shelter,” Champaco said.
One of the areas that saw major flooding in December 2025 was the Hemlani’s Apartments in Malesso’. Champaco said he and his crew have been out trying to mitigate the potential of flooding in the area.
“I did go over there and, you know, check with them if they needed sandbags, stuff like that,” Champaco said. “But then we did some work. You know, (with) the help of (the) Department of Public Works and the Mayor’s Council of Guam. We were able to procure an excavator and some heavy equipment. We did some work over at the bridge in the river area.”
Champaco said he was “praying” the proactive measures “would help it not flood as bad.”
During the 12 p.m. heavy weather briefing with the Joint Information Center, the National Weather Service urged residents living in flood-prone areas and homes that are not concrete to evacuate to a shelter ahead of the storm.
When asked why Champaco thought some residents in Malesso’ were not seeking shelter, he said the storm’s shift in tracking may be a reason.
“I think that not too many residents (are) coming in because, as you know, … we’re not going to get the full-on typhoon force now. So, I think that’s why. It’s like, ‘We’re OK,’ right,” Champaco said.
With the low turnout numbers in the south, The Guam Daily Post asked the Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense spokesperson Jenna Blas if consolidating shelters was on the table ahead of the onset of tropical-storm-force winds and rains.
In the central region at George Washington High School, Mangilao Mayor Allan Ungacta said at around 2 p.m. the number of those seeking shelter stayed the same as previously reported by officials earlier in the day.
A shelteree from Mangilao, who asked to be identified by the initials “D.N.,” was with her family of 10, which includes her four children, all under seven years old. They were settling into the accommodations, telling the Post they were “taken cared of,” but also said she feared the worst for her home.
“Very concerned. Because my house is not that strong for my kids stay put in it. If it wasn’t weak, we wouldn’t come here, but our home is very weak,” she said. “I’m pretty sure the rain will go in because the plywood are very thin now.”
Sheltering until Condition of Readiness 4 is declared and it’s safe to return home, she said, her thoughts are filled with what they will return home to following Super Typhoon Sinlaku.
“I’m wondering if my house is broken down; where can we be placed at?” she asked the Post.
