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Date: December 22, 1997 
An assessment team from the United Methodist Committee on Relief has been temporarily stymied in attempting to visit Guam because of tremendous devastation caused by Supertyphoon Paka on Dec. 16.
Paka's rampage resulted in the destruction of all radar systems on the island, closure of the airport and port, total outages of power and water, plus damage or destruction of all hotels and motels in the U.S. territory, said the Rev. Gordon Knuckey of Denver, UMCOR U.S. chief of field operations and training.
The three-member UMCOR team also will visit the Northern Mariana Islands hit by three typhoons since November. Both Guam and the Marianas were declared major disaster areas by President Clinton.
"We have been able to receive emergency communications from United Methodist churches on Guam and the Mariana Islands by satellite-assisted e-mail and telephone, and we are being fed damage figures from the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)," Knuckey said.
For now, United Methodist aid is being coordinated by the Rev. Tim Mull in Guam and the Rev. Barbara Grace Ripple of Saipan in the Marianas.
Paka has caused 24 injuries but no deaths in Guam. Eleven shelters are housing about 1,500 residents. Preliminary estimates of damage exceed $100 million. At least 3,000 homes were destroyed, and as much as half of Guam's 31,000 homes have sustained major damage, according to FEMA.
Anderson Air Force Base and Guam International Airport are open for one emergency aircraft daily using visual flight rules.
"If we were there now, we would be a burden to the people who would have to house and feed us, and they have enough problems without taking care of us," Knuckey said.
"UMCOR has provided $10,000 in emergency funds to Guam and the Mariana Islands, and through the generosity of United Methodists, we know we will be able to provide additional disaster assistance."
Because of the locations of Guam and the Marianas -- about 3,700 miles west-southwest of Hawaii -- it would not be feasible for UMCOR to provide donated goods or volunteers from the U.S. mainland, Knuckey said. Aid must be in the form of cash donations.
Cash gifts are needed to provide vouchers for food, clothing and other necessities, Ripple said.
"My feelings are those of exhaustion and sadness," she said. "Keeping the spirits up is a big job. It means a lot to know you are there, that we are in your prayers and that you care."
Those wishing to donate to the disaster relief effort should designate gifts to UMCOR Advance #982515-0, "Hurricanes ’97." Checks may be placed in United Methodist collection plates or mailed to UMCOR at 475 Riverside Drive, #330, New York, NY 10115. For information on how to donate to UMCOR, call (800)-554-8583.
Source: United Methodist News Service.
*Blair, Woodstock, Va., is a full-time UMCOR volunteer who is retired from the Federal Emergency Management Agency.