GPA begins pre-storm preparation
By Pacific Island Times News Staff
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero anticipates placing Guam in Condition of Readiness 2 at 8 p.m. this evening, Oct. 8.
At COR2, the government of Guam, with the exception of essential services, will not be operational and will remain closed until COR 4 is announced.
Residents are strongly advised to use this time to prepare.
The Guam Department of Education is preparing to open certain emergency shelters at 6 p.m. on Monday.
Emergency shelters will not be open until 6 p.m. Oct. 9. Officials advised people not to go to any emergency shelter until the designated opening time.
As of 1 p.m., Tropical Storm Bolaven was located near 9.6 degrees north latitude and 152.9 degrees east longitude, about 610 miles east-southeast of Guam, moving west-northwest at 5 mph, with maximum sustained winds of 40 mph. It is expected to maintain this general course with a slight increase in forward speed through Monday morning. Bolaven is forecast to intensify through tonight, possibly becoming a typhoon by late Monday night or early Tuesday morning. Current forecast tracks have Bolaven passing through the Marianas late Tuesday.
A typhoon watch remains in effect for Guam, Rota, Tinian, and Saipan. A typhoon watch means that there is a high possibility for damaging (39 mph) and/or destructive (58 mph) winds and heavy rains. This is expected as early as Tuesday morning.
The Guam Power Authority said power plants will be operational as long as it is capable and safe to do so.
GPA said it has begun pre-storm preparation on the island-wide power system, such as taking protective measures at the power plants and substations to minimize the threat of storm/typhoon damage.
Field crews will focus on tree-trimming and vegetation control as high winds can blow vegetation into power lines, GPA said as it advised customers to safely clear debris and vegetation that may pose a hazard during windy conditions.
For power-related emergencies, call 24-hour Trouble Dispatch at 475-1472/73/74.GPA urges residents to take precautions and protect or unplug sensitive electronic equipment to prevent damage due to lightning strikes or power surges.
GPA advises customers to turn off their main breaker and report these issues to GPA’s 24-hour Trouble Dispatch if they are experiencing power fluctuations, brownouts, extremely bright lights, or dimming/flickering lights.
The transmission & distribution personnel will be in the field to address power problems, up to the point when supervisors out in the field state it is no longer safe to do so and field crews will be secured.
"As the storm approaches and winds pick up, we will eventually have to secure all personnel for safety reasons. Thereafter, as circuits trip, we may need to secure and bring units offline until it is safe to resume operations," GPA said.
GPA said it will know the areas experiencing outages through its Supervisory Control and Data Acquisition and smart grid management systems.
"Therefore, we ask our customers to keep calls to a minimum and limit calls to emergency safety situations only (down lines/poles, sparking lines and transformers and other immediate dangers," GPA said.
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