Guam typhoon tests IT readiness, disaster recovery

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December 10, 2002 (Computerworld) -- A devastating and powerful supertyphoon struck Guam on Sunday, severely testing IT contingency plans for managers who have made survival on the remote island an art.
Typhoon Pongsona, which reportedly had winds gusting to 180 miles per hour, left the island without power and water and with limited telephone and Internet services.
"It's the worst [typhoon] we have ever had -- the damage here is incredible," said Wolf Hofer, the IT manager at Deloitte & Touche LLP's Guam office.
Tourist buses, huge shipping containers and cars were flipped over and scattered on roadways. Windows of expensive hotels were blown out. Large antennas were snapped in half. The high winds also toppled many of the island's massive, steel-reinforced concrete utility poles that were supposedly typhoon-proof.
"There is power only where there are generators," said Rudy Villaverde, systems manager at the University of Guam's computer center. He said his computers are up and running, but he can't supply information. "Communications are almost dead," he said.
President Bush yesterday declared the island a disaster area, making it eligible for federal assistance. One death has been attributed to the storm.
Guam may be one of the toughest places in the world to operate a computer network. Despite its year-round sun, lush tropical landscape, soaring mountains and beautiful beaches, it's in the direct path of some of world's most fearsome storms. It also experiences earthquakes on a regular basis, including a quake measuring 8.1 on the Richter scale in 1993.
Computer systems are typically housed in protected areas, shielded from the elements. These systems are designed to withstand the island's natural rigors, and good backup and contingency planning is a fact of life for IT managers there.
Indeed, when Hofer returned to his office yesterday morning after the storm, his system was up, running on generator power. WorldCom Inc., which provides some of the cable connections that link Guam to the outside world, was ready to go as soon as the local telephone provider re-energized its lines, said Hofer.
But the typhoon has crippled services over which IT managers have little control. Electrical service could be out for some time. A smaller typhoon, Chataan, which struck July 5-6, left some areas of the island without power for a month. Compounding the local difficulties is a massive fire at the fuel supply depot at Apra Harbor.
Power is "going to be the big problem," said Hofer. Until electricity is restored, his company's power supply will depend on someone hauling over 45-gallon drums of diesel fuel.
Tony Das, managing director of Startec+PCI, a cellular and Internet service provider, said it may be weeks before power is restored.

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