Super Typhoon Bavi Approaches Guam and Northern Mariana Islands

Residents of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are moving to emergency shelters and making last-minute preparations before the arrival of a “super typhoon” expected to batter the United States Pacific territories with torrential rain and hurricane-force winds.

Super Typhoon Bavi was forecast to roar over the area on Monday morning, with winds of 260km/h (162mph), equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, and gusts of up to 315km/h (196mph).

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The US National Weather Service (NWS) said the storm system was heading west towards the Marianas. “This general forecast track will take Bavi through the Marianas as a very dangerous category 5 super typhoon Monday morning,” it said.

“Significant flooding from torrential rains and coastal inundation are expected,” the NWS said, with projected waves of up to 10.7 metres (35 feet), the height of a 10-storey building, creating “extremely dangerous” conditions at sea.

Few cars were on Guam’s roads on Sunday as heavy rain and strong winds lashed the island.

Pinky Cubacub, 55, said as she boarded up her eatery’s windows that she had lined up early on Saturday to buy $500 worth of plywood.

“I cannot afford to lose so many days. It hurts,” she told AFP. “Whatever we’re making right now is just for rent, utilities, my staff and supplies. I don’t even pay myself yet.”

Call centre employee Arabella Paulino, 48, said: “My girls were saying to me it’s scary. But it will be OK. My house is concrete, so the worst that can happen is a window could blow in.”

Japanese tourist Miku Sakurai, 25, was supposed to fly back to Tokyo on Sunday, but her flight was cancelled.

“We will stay in the hotel when the storm comes. I am scared,” she told AFP.

Around a dozen surfers were making the most of the conditions at Guam’s Talofofo Bay.

“There’s quite a lot of debris in the water, but it’s a lot of fun,” one said.

The Northern Mariana Islands have a population of about 40,000. Nearby Guam has about 170,000. Both are US territories.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku hit the region in mid-April, knocking out power for tens of thousands, uprooting trees and ripping roofs off buildings. In 2023, Typhoon Mawar caused similar devastation.

Bavi was forecast to pass nearest to Rota, a small island between Guam and Saipan with about 1,500 people.

If Bavi tracks near or over Rota, home to around 1,500 people, most of the area “will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer” and “many non-concrete, non-reinforced homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse”, the NWS predicted.

“Nearly all trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months,” it said.