Typhoon Mawar left behind a path of destruction when it passed just north of Guam on May 24, bringing with it Category 4-hurricane force winds and heavy rain.
Navy Base Guam in Santa Rita experienced heavy damage as a result of the storm and now the Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society is stepping up to help the military personnel who live there by providing assistance to help them recover, said Karen Fahland, Navy-Marine Corps Relief Society director in Guam.
“My staff is volunteers,” she said. “I am depending on the dedication and compassion of my volunteers, but they have families, too.”
Since 1904, NMCRS has offered interest-free loans and grants for essential needs like food, rent, utilities, vehicle repairs, emergency transportation, disaster relief and more. Each year the organization supports approximately 35,000 clients with more than $40 million in interest-free loans and grants.
Fahland spoke with Connecting Vets at around 9 a.m. Friday morning in Guam. Fahland said more than 35 people seeking assistance were already lined up in front of her office door.
“We are in a temporary location right now, which is fantastic, they have been able to get us into an air conditioned building, so we are a one stop shop right now.”
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Fahland, who has lived on Guam for 11 years, calls a 10-story condominium home. She said she has never experienced anything like Typhoon Mawar.
“I have never in my life felt that, I have never heard that sound before and it was ongoing,” she said. “It started on Wednesday afternoon, May 24, you start hearing the typhoon shutters banging and the wind howling. It just increased in intensity.”
The storm pounded the island for nearly 16 hours. Fahland was sleeping in bed next to her husband when she was shaken awake.
“I told him to stop shaking the bed,” she said. “It wasn’t him. It was the wind shaking the building. That scared me the most.”
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While many of Guam’s buildings are constructed of concrete and withstood the storm’s fury, roofs did not. Fahland also recalled seeing 2-ton trucks tossed like they were playthings. Protracted power outages have also led to the loss of groceries and other supplies service members, retirees and their families need to live.
Since the storm, NMCRS has distributed around $1.2 million to Guam’s military community.
“This is just to get you over the hump,” she said. “We anticipate more. People are losing so many things. We are here to help.”
Fahland urged those wishing to help in recovery efforts to make a financial donation to NMCRS here.
“Five, 10, 15 dollars can make a huge difference in someone’s life,” she said.
Fahland said through it all the island’s residents have banded together to support and help one another.
“We’re all in the same boat,” she said. “I don’t know if one person on this island came away unscathed.”
Reach Julia LeDoux at Julia@connectingvets.com.