Typhoon Hits Guam; Damage Appears Light

Typhoon Gay hit Guam today but apparently caused no major damage in this capital city, a witness said.

The eye of the storm passed directly over Agana, said Dana Williams, assistant city editor at the Pacific Daily News.

“It got dead still and really sunny,” Williams said.

Winds picked up again as the back side of the storm moved over the Pacific Ocean island chain that has been battered or threatened by six typhoons in three months.

No injuries were reported to police, who received about 15 emergency calls, Williams said.

She said that things likely to blow down were already destroyed in August by Typhoon Omar or by other recent typhoons.

Gay was dubbed a “super typhoon” Thursday in the Marshall Islands when its maximum sustained wind speed reached 150 m.p.h.

It had maximum sustained winds of 140 m.p.h., with gusts to 165 m.p.h. a few hours before landfall, the U.S. military’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center said.

Guam, a U.S. territory, has a population of 139,000.

Volunteer Joaquin Blaz at Guam’s Civil Defense Agency said some 4,000 residents had gone to shelters.

Omar, which hit Guam Aug. 28, caused $500 million in damage. Omar was followed a week later by Typhoon Ryan, which veered away from the islands. Typhoon Brian on Oct. 21 passed over Guam, and the island was brushed by Typhoon Elsie on Nov. 3. Last Wednesday, Typhoon Hunt passed nearby.

Typhoon is the name used west of the international date line for storms called hurricanes east of it.