Typhoon Mawar lashes Guam, US island territory known as ‘Where America’s Day Begins’

By KEN RITTER
Associated Press

The powerful Typhoon Mawar lashing Guam has interrupted travel and tropical island life for residents and U.S. military members in one of the nation’s most remote territories. The island in the Pacific Ocean is known for a cheerful greeting from the indigenous Chamorro language. The words “Hafa Adai” generally mean “Hello.” Visitors see seagulls and sunsets and shopping but probably no songbirds. Non-native brown tree snakes decimated the native jungle bird population after World War II. People born on Guam are U.S. citizens, but with a huge time difference. The sun rises 14 hours earlier on largest of the tropical Mariana Islands than it does in New York City or Washington, D.C.