The Evening Star (September 21, 1946)
Guam, 3 other Marianas bases heavily damaged by typhoon
100-mile-an-hour winds rip huts apart; no civilian or military deaths reported
GUAM (AP) – A treacherous typhoon veered unexpectedly and roared today across the big United States Naval Base and three more fortified Marianas islands to the north, leaving heavy military damage.
Huge sheets of corrugated steel from Quonset huts were whipped through the air like leaves in the 100-mile gusts.
Rear Adm. Charles A. Pownall, commander of the Marianas, issued a statement in midafternoon that first, fragmentary reports indicated there were no serious injuries among Navy or Marine personnel or civilians.
The Army reported one man suffered a broken back.
Wives and children of military men had been removed from small Quonset huts to stouter buildings and military personnel were confined indoors as word spread that the typhoon was shifting course.
Adm. Pownall reported extensive damage to buildings throughout Guam, including the Navy hospital. Many hangars were reported leveled at Harmon Field – from where B-29s once took oil forTokyo.
Army airfields on the northern end of the island, closest to the typhoon center, were reported damaged extensively.
The admiral said he had no reports from Saipan, but he doubted that it was damaged as greatly as Guam. He expressed concern about little Rota Island, which has a native population of 750 and only a small number of U.S. personnel. He said, however, the island has a cave large enough to hold the entire population and he presumed they weathered the storm there.
The typhoon center passed through the Marianas in the Rota area.
Adm. Pownall estimated the typhoon’s top velocity at 85 knots.
In Guam, a huge Quonset hut was lifted into the air and settled piggyback astride another.
Most of aircraft evacuated
Ships which had been ordered to sea were asked to report how they weathered the storm. Virtually all of Guam’s aircraft had been flown to Palau to escape the storm.
The multi-million-dollar Apra harbor breakwater, built recently, was only punctured in several minor places. The harbor apparently can survive a major typhoon.
However, Adm. Pownall said the storm indicated the necessity of constructing more durable buildings, particularly hospitals.
The high winds had subsided somewhat by midafternoon, but the sea still was raging and 15-foot breakers were smashing and coiling across the reef.
Navy communications cut
Most installations were on battle rations and power had not been restored. Women at Adm. Pownall’s command headquarters were expected to get their first warm meal tonight, however.
The Navy radio went out at the height of the storm and Guam was cut off from the world for hours. The main cable station was evacuated and cable crews spent a harrowing night in a leaking, seaside cave with towering waves beating only a few feet below their refuge.
Naval officers, after a swift check of the havoc, estimated it would be months before all the damage could be repaired.
The storm, watched closely by Navy aerologists, had been expected to pass well to the north. Then about 10 o’clock last night it veered suddenly and headed straight for Guam.
Guam natives evacuated a number of villages but most of them sheltered by the hills, suffered less than exposed military installations.