According to the US National Weather Service (NWS), Typhoon Bavi is a "very dangerous" storm, capable of causing catastrophic damage when sweeping through Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. The agency warned that sea waves could be nearly 11 m high, and strong winds could cause serious damage to structures and infrastructure.
Super typhoon Bavi currently has sustained winds of nearly 290 km/h, gusts up to 350 km/h. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) also classifies Bavi into the super typhoon group - the level for storms with winds exceeding 240 km/h, equivalent to level 4 or level 5 storms according to the US classification scale.
In the Northern Mariana Islands, Rota Island - an inhabited island located at the southernmost point of the archipelago, about 50 km northeast of Guam - is directly affected by the storm's eye.
Rota authorities have called on people to urgently shelter, warning that the situation will deteriorate very quickly and being outdoors becomes extremely dangerous. A Rota spokesman said that the locality is facing strong winds and flooding, and has received many reports of serious damage caused by the storm.
Meanwhile, on Saipan Island, meteorologists recorded gusts exceeding 161 km/h at the airport. NWS forecasts that winds will not fall below the storm threshold until early afternoon on July 6 local time and will only fall below the tropical storm level after midnight.
Guam - a US territory with about 170,000 people - has opened 5 evacuation centers located in schools, capable of accommodating about 1,700 people, prioritizing vulnerable groups. The Guam Civil Defense Office said that one evacuation point is fully booked and people are being transferred to another facility.
Super typhoon Bavi also disrupted traffic activities. Many people reinforced their houses before the storm made landfall.
Bavi is the second super typhoon to threaten Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands in less than three months. In April, super typhoon Sinlaku hit this area, killing 17 people, causing estimated damage of about 1.5 billion USD and causing prolonged power outages in many areas.
According to scientists, the Western Pacific region is often affected by tropical storms, but superstorms of very strong intensity are appearing with increasing frequency. Rising sea surface temperatures along with strong El Niño are said to provide more energy and humidity to the atmosphere, contributing to faster storm development and reaching extremely strong intensity.
Bavi is also identified as the 11th tropical storm of Category 4 or 5 to hit US territory in a decade, more than the total recorded in the previous 57 years.
