Residents across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are preparing for Typhoon Bavi as forecasters warn it could strengthen into a super typhoon before reaching the Marianas. The preparations come only months after Super Typhoon Sinlaku caused widespread destruction across the region.
Communities are still recovering from April’s storm, with power outages continuing in some areas and displaced families remaining in temporary shelters. According to the Associated Press, local officials and residents say the prospect of another major cyclone has heightened concern as recovery efforts remain incomplete.
The National Weather Service on Guam said Typhoon Bavi was expected to intensify into a super typhoon by Sunday night or early Monday as it approaches the Marianas. According to the Associated Press, a super typhoon is defined as a tropical cyclone with maximum sustained winds of at least 150 mph (241 kph), making it comparable to a high-end Category 4 or Category 5 hurricane.
Recovery Efforts Continue as Another Storm Approaches
Many residents in the U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands are still dealing with the consequences of Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which struck in April as the strongest tropical cyclone recorded anywhere on Earth this year. Electrical service has not yet been fully restored, and some families continue living in tents after losing their homes.
“We’re getting ready to do this all over again,” Edwin Propst, a former lawmaker now working in the governor’s office on Saipan, told the Associated Press. “The timing is terrible.”
Propst said residents were once again boarding up windows with plywood and storing gasoline after experiencing lengthy fuel lines following Sinlaku. While recovery has progressed, he said the islands had hoped for several more months before facing another significant weather threat.
The earlier typhoon caused no reported deaths on land, though six crew members aboard a cargo ship that overturned during the storm were lost. Search teams recovered one body before the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its search after more than 100 hours, according to the Associated Press.
Forecast Prompts Widespread Preparations across the Marianas
As of Friday, Typhoon Bavi was located about 760 miles (1,223 kilometers) east of Guam, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph), according to the National Weather Service on Guam. Senior meteorologist Paul Stanko said the storm was forecast to strengthen into a super typhoon before reaching the island chain.
Some residents expressed hope that Guam would receive the strongest impacts if it meant reducing the effects on neighboring Saipan and the Northern Mariana Islands. Stanko said that sentiment had become common as communities recognized the challenges still facing those recovering from Sinlaku.
Guam, located west of the International Date Line and home to two major U.S. military bases, has also begun preparing for the approaching storm. The Rev. Francis Hezel, assistant pastor at Santa Barbara Catholic Church in Dededo, said church workers and residents were making preparations while remaining hopeful the forecast track could still change. “This is getting to be the normal thing now, typhoon preparedness,” Hezel said. “It’s happening more frequently.”
The Associated Press also reported that El Niño increases hurricane season activity in the Pacific. Experts said the natural warming cycle is expected to further heat a planet already warming because of fossil fuel pollution and is likely to intensify extreme weather around the world.
