Typhoon Mawar struck Guam in the spring of 2023, it brought unprecedented devastation to the island. With wind gusts reaching 165 mph and more than 20 inches of rain falling in just three hours, the storm — equivalent to a Category 4 hurricane — was the strongest to hit Guam since 2002.
The impact was severe: uprooted trees, waist-deep flooding and widespread power outages that crippled both civilian infrastructure and critical U.S. military installations, including Naval Base Guam, Andersen Air Force Base and Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz.
We deployed an advanced echelon (ADVON) to Agana Heights to lead the installation and maintenance of more than 100 generators, ensuring power continuity for essential facilities. At the same time, Naval Facilities Engineering Systems Command (NAVFAC) Pacific engaged our power and energy and mission critical teams to rapidly develop long-term strategies to harden the island’s power systems against future extreme weather events.
Together, our teams carried out critical short-term emergency power response and long-term power system hardening planning in Guam, keeping the island’s communities safe and resilient today and prepared for tomorrow.
Rapid response in the wake of typhoon Mawar
In the face of the extreme weather impacts, we mobilized rapidly to provide short-term emergency power solutions. Under the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ Advanced Contract Initiative for Temporary Emergency Power, we deployed a team that ultimately grew to 109 personnel, starting with six specialists who arrived 36 to 48 hours before landfall. Despite extreme heat, humidity and logistical challenges, including equipment delays and rugged terrain, the team installed 109 generators across the island, completing 69 replacements and scaling operations from three installations per day to ten.
These generators powered hospitals, water pumping stations, shelters, fire stations, warehouses and even postal facilities, restoring essential services to communities and military operations. Generators had to be manually rolled for over a mile through difficult terrain. Yet through disciplined Standard Operating Procedures and adaptive problem-solving, we maintained accountability for personnel and equipment throughout the deployment, completing 90 tasks for generator repairs and replenishments.
