Nearly two weeks after Super Typhoon Sinlaku's passage, recovery continues across Guam, with some of the worst damage still visible at the island’s public parks, like Paseo. Over the weekend, volunteers stepped-in to help cleanup as officials warn full recovery could take much longer and cost more than Typhoon Mawar.

Volunteers gathered at the Hagatna Boat Basin over the weekend, clearing debris left behind by the storm as the area remains closed after taking a direct hit from high waves and strong winds. The cleanup was spearheaded by the Guahan Bodyboarders, alongside other community organizations. It comes as the Department of Parks & Recreation warns full recovery for Guam’s many public spaces could take years.

Agency deputy director Warren Pelletier says Paseo is one of the hardest-hit sites, with the facility substantially damaged, from the baseball field to the seawall. "The entire seawall that goes all the way around from the fishing platform, that received substantial damage as well as erosion," he detailed. "A lot of the rocks are still there, but when you have water intrusion, that intrusion digs up the landfill that’s been up here, which is predominantly coral-based, so that’s what you see around the statue of liberty, the debris that was in these holes."

Across the island, Parks & Rec has completed preliminary damage assessments, focusing first on high-traffic parks and facilities. From there, it will be a “long and lengthy” process with full FEMA assessments.

"For us, it’s like sixty-some parks," Pelletier said. "So we’re still dealing with a lot of FEMA issues with Mawar. We haven’t even completed that. It’s still ongoing. So this is just going to add insult to injury, but we’re all focused on that."

Pelletier warns the impact, especially along the western shoreline, is widespread and that repairs could cost more than Mawar. He says it’s too early to put an official cost on the damages, but a personal ballpark opinion puts it in the billions.

"Personally, I think it could be like $1.5-$2 billion. That’s being conservative," he said.

The deputy director adds Adelup has a plan for rebuilding Paseo, saying now is the time to “do it right” to help the tourism industry recover, noting, "The governor and lieutenant governor, when they came out here, they saw a big beautiful vision that now that we can, everything is destroyed, let’s build it better for sports tourism, festivals and hold concerts and stuff like that out there."

Meanwhile, crews continue to clean up across the island with a long road of recovery ahead. It’s why Parks & Rec welcomes any help from the community, grateful for this weekend’s cleanup. "For them to come up and step up to do what they did, it was amazing. It was amazing to see," he said.

In the meantime, Paseo Park will be closed to the public until further notice as officials continue to clean up and make repairs.