Hundreds Seek Shelter as Typhoon Roy Hits Guam

Typhoon Roy slammed into Guam and other islands in the Northern Marianas with 115-m.p.h. gusts today, forcing 1,200 people into storm shelters, knocking out all power and leaving half the island without water.

No injuries were reported on this Western Pacific island, officials said.

The eye of the storm passed over the northern tip of Guam around 6 p.m. local time today with sustained winds of 95 m.p.h. and gusts to 115 m.p.h., according to Jordan Kaye of Guam Civil Defense.

The storm left the entire island without power, except for emergency generators, Kaye said, and half the island was without water. Residents were advised against drinking tap water because the chlorination system was shut off.

Trees and power lines were blown down, but there was no immediate estimate of damage, Kaye said.

Commercial and military flights were suspended, said John Silvely, a Federal Aviation Administration area supervisor.

All communication was lost with the island of Rota, 80 miles north of Guam, Kaye said. Rota was hit by the storm’s 30-mile-wide eye, according to Rich Lay of the National Weather Service in Honolulu.

Civil defense officials on Guam said 1,200 people fled to shelters.

The typhoon, which developed as a tropical storm near the Equator, swept over Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands on Saturday. It caused extensive damage and one death on the tiny crowded island of Ebeye where 80% of the homes were damaged, according to Army Maj. Jim Pfister of the U.S. Pacific Command in Honolulu.