Read, Watch or Listen

GUAM – Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are bracing for the arrival of Super Typhoon Bavi, a storm with winds equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, authorities said on July 4. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that at 7:00 a.m. Guam time, the center of the storm was several hundred kilometers east of the archipelago, with sustained winds near 259 kilometers per hour (161 miles per hour) and gusts up to 314 kilometers per hour (195 miles per hour). The U.S. National Weather Service warned that forecast tracks indicated a grim outlook for the Marianas and urged all residents to plan for at least tropical storm conditions. Both Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands declared states of emergency as officials organized evacuations, activated shelters and prepared emergency services ahead of landfall. SAIPAN – Across the islands, roughly 200,000 inhabitants queued at petrol stations, crowded hardware stores for plywood, and stocked up on food, bottled water and other essentials, while resort and business workers boarded up windows, secured outdoor furniture and checked alarm systems. Local authorities and the American Red Cross deployed disaster teams and relief supplies, noting that some residents remain in temporary shelters or under makeshift roofs and that damaged seawalls are heightening concern about storm surge. The preparations come as the U.S. Pacific territories are still recovering from Super Typhoon Sinlaku in mid-April, which knocked out power for tens of thousands of people, uprooted trees, overturned cars and tore metal roofs from buildings, and as meteorologists warn that rising ocean temperatures and the onset of El Nino may increase the intensity of extreme weather events globally.

Prepared by Emily Rhodes and reviewed by editorial team.