By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Guam Power Authority advised residents to be prepared as power outages and fluctuations are expected during the typhoon.
"As the storm progresses closer to Guam, more power outages will occur. If your power circuits go down, GPA will work on energizing it immediately within a few minutes," GPA said.
"If your power doesn’t come back in a few minutes it is most likely that the circuit is damaged and GPA will have to wait until the typhoon passes before they can make repairs," officials said.
GPA said does not intend to shut down the island-wide power system.
"The island-wide power system runs automatically and power cuts out when damage has occurred to a customer’s circuit. This occurs for the safety of GPA’s customers and their homes and businesses," GPA said.
As of 4:45 am today, GPA crews were secured and stood down for their safety as high winds have made it unsafe to continue making repairs around the island.
Mobilization, assessments and repairs to the system will resume once conditions improve and return to a safe level. This will begin the recovery phase of the island-wide power system around Guam.
The system will be energized as long as power circuits remain intact. Officials said GPA will continue to operate throughout the typhoon to make post-typhoon recovery faster.
The GPA team is prepared to immediately begin restoration as soon as winds decrease to safe levels.
Although Typhoon Mawar lost its "super typhoon" status, Guam remains on the threshold of damaging winds of 39 mph or greater. Winds are expected to intensify to typhoon-force winds by midday, with the strongest winds of 145 mph sustained winds, with gusts up to 150-170 mph expected through the afternoon.
The 11 emergency shelters throughout the island, with a total capacity of nearly 4,000, are currently 22 percent occupied.
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