by Sabrina Salas Matanane

Guam - After two days of warmups, it's game day for Guam's first responders. Guam Power Authority safety administrator John Crisotomo has gone toe-to-toe with Mother Nature plenty of times, saying. "I've been with the Guam Power Safety Department since 1991, so you can start with Typhoon Yuri all the way up to Pongsona; every typhoon so far."

But for those who've never experienced Mother Nature's powerful punch, the Typhoon Pakyo exercise provides them the training they'll need when and after she delivers a dangerous blow. Over the last several days, response activity coordinators from the various GovGuam agencies have been learning how to fill out the proper forms that will be needed when catastrophic disaster strikes Guam, in this case a Category 5 typhoon, today its game on.

Guam Homeland Security spokesperson Alyssa Benito said, "We opened up with a damage assessment, so we were told what is the status on our port, water, power our airport so now we're just practicing how to prioritize what resources we do have and play it out.'

The scenario: it's 72 hours after a devastating typhoon lays out Guam. Different components are tested: are there enough shelters? What to do with 3,000 stranded tourists? What about pets who have to be evacuated? And how do you get messages out to the public when all communications are down. The exercise brings together the veterans and novice players exchanging ideas and suggestions.

"We have a lot of knowledge in the EOC as well as our policy room, so we're taking new knowledge and also very seasoned people; you know, it's a good learning experience this is a perfect time to make mistakes because it's a no-fault exercise," said Benito.

For seasoned responders like Crisostomo, exercises like these are helpful but GovGuam must also ensure it has the necessary supplies and materials to respond effectively and efficiently. "We already know what the system what we have to do and everything else so in that sense we can be quicker but as far as what do you have to work with that determines how long it's going to take," he said.

The Typhoon Pakyo exercise continues Thursday.