Typhoon lashes Guam, nearby islands; power, water supplies cut

YIGO, Guam - Power and water supplies were cut in many areas of the Pacific island of Guam on Saturday, a day after a typhoon brought strong wind and heavy rain that uprooted trees and tore off roofs.

There were no reports of injuries. About 1,100 residents took shelter in schools as Typhoon Dolphin hit the US territory late on Friday but some started to go home on Saturday. There were long lines at gasoline stations.

"We have some water issues. We have more pockets of power outages. These are being restored. The hospital was back up," Lieutenant Governor Ray Tenorio told Reuters.

The typhoon knocked out power in about 40 percent of Guam, and cut water supplies in more than a tenth of the island, said the island's utilities providers.

Nimfa Lumanog-Ricalde, a resident of the northern village of Dededo in Guam, said the tin roof of her house had been blown away.

"I have a swimming pool in my lounge," she said.

Some streets were flooded.

The eye of the storm, with maximum winds of 110 mph (177 kph), passed through a narrow channel between Guam and Rota island on Friday.

It was a moderate category 2 typhoon when it narrowly missed a direct hit on Guam but strengthened to a category 4, the second strongest on a scale of one to five, as it headed towards Japan.

Rota, a small island north of Guam with fewer than 3,000 residents, is completely without power, officials said.