Typhoon Hurts 80, Levels Guam Homes
Typhoon Omar blasted across Guam on Friday with winds up to 150 m.p.h., leveling houses and knocking down hundreds of trees and power lines, officials said.
No deaths were reported in the U.S. territory of 135,000 people, 3,800 miles west of Hawaii, but about 80 people were hurt by flying debris, an official at Guam Memorial Hospital said. The entire island remained without power early today.
President Bush on Friday declared Guam a disaster area, the third this week after Hurricane Andrew devastated parts of Florida and Louisiana. The order makes the territory eligible for a range of federal grants and other emergency assistance. Gov. Joseph Ada also declared a state of emergency.
Police reported arrests of looters in business districts.
Omar was being called the most devastating typhoon to hit Guam in at least 16 years, since Typhoon Pamela in 1976.
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