Emergency shelters remain open for hundreds left homeless

Hundreds of Guam residents lost their homes following the destructive winds of Typhoon Dolphin. Only two shelters remain - Tamuning and Agana Heights. In Tamuning alone, there are roughly 220 shelterees, including pregnant women, dozens of children, and a one-week-old infant.

The story for many of them seems to be the same.

Ferlyn Soran is a resident of Dededo and told KUAM News, "When the typhoon finished, I go there I see my house...no more. My house is very down, even my stuff is very wet. See I cannot wear many clothes here, maybe only two pair I take with me." She added, "Only the plywood stay on the bottom, but the wall is no more, because I'm staying in the tin roof, not concrete house."

Maileen Maiso is another Dededo resident who decided to return to the shelter after finding her home destroyed. "Everything is gone," she detailed. "Everything is wet in the house and I don't know if we can go back there." She added, "The rooftop is gone, the window, the doors, the walls...everything is gone , and we don't want to go back there yet because it's not safe for our kids."

Maiso is disheartened by the situation, noting, "It's different from home, we just want to go home because the kids, they want to go home - there's a lot of people here and you know we cannot sleep good here."

However both Maiso and Soran are thankful for the assistance they have received. Soran said, "It's good because we sleep good here, because we don't have house, but they help us."

Both want to rebuild their homes, but can't imagine how to do so when they are simply struggling to keep their children fed. "I don't know how we can get the stuff to prepare our house again," said Maiso.

Mayor Louise Rivera said many of the shelterees have been in and out, going to work, and trying to salvage what few belongings they can from their damaged homes. "We're happy to be able to assist and we're hoping for good news from the governor and his team, I know right now they're meeting to find out how best to help the shelterees," she said.

Rivera reminds families that staying at a shelter will not ensure you receive any aid, and should be a last resort for those without housing. Shelters will remain open tomorrow while the government continues to work to find a solution for these suffering families.