Global Courant 2023-05-24 17:46:12
Typhoon Mawar hit Guam as a Category 4 storm on Wednesday, bringing hurricane-force winds and heavy rain, marking the strongest storm to hit the U.S. Pacific region in decades.
Mawar passed through the Rota Channel and clipped the northern part of Guam before 9 p.m. local time with warnings in effect for winds of 115 mph or higher until 10:45 p.m. for tornado-like damage, the National Weather Service in Guam said.
The typhoon’s eyewall passed over Guam’s northern tip around 8:45 p.m. Wednesday night with winds of 150 mph, the National Weather Service said.
Mawar is just 15 miles north, northeast of Guam and moving to the northwest at 8 mph, according to the latest typhoon advisory.
“This is an extremely dangerous and life-threatening situation,” Landon Aydlett, National Weather Service alert coordinator, said in a local time livestream Wednesday night.
He warned locals to “take cover now” away from windows, with conditions expected to gradually ease by Thursday morning local time.
So far, the typhoon has brushed Guam’s northern tip. It is the strongest storm to hit the territory of more than 150,000 people in decades. The associated press reported.
The storm has already knocked out tens of thousands of power. The island-wide energy system supplied approximately 1,000 of the 52,000 customers with energy, Guam Power Authority Wednesday afternoon local time.
Fierce winds and pouring rain began to pound the island local time on Wednesday. The storm may be so severe that President Joe Biden signed an emergency declaration on Tuesday to mobilize resources.
Mawar is expected to be a “triple threat” of torrential rain, life-threatening storm surges and Category 4 hurricane-force winds, according to Guam’s Department of Homeland Security.
“This is a very serious situation with conditions steadily deteriorating,” the department said.
Aydlett of the National Weather Service said in a live stream Wednesday afternoon local time, “Everyone is going to feel this, and they’re going to feel this for a while,” urging people to stay indoors.
There were typhoon warnings for Guam and Rota. Typhoon winds extended up to 50 miles from the storm’s center, and tropical storm-force winds reached up to 140 miles from the center, the weather service said in an update at 1 p.m. local time.
Satellite image of Typhoon Mawar approaching Guam.NASA via AP
The loss of power and access to water will likely last days if not weeks after the storm passes. According to the island’s homeland security, flights were canceled from Tuesday to Wednesday.
Mawar was expected to be the first “eye pass” on Guam since December 2002, the weather service said. About 170,000 people live there.
That storm was Super Typhoon Pongsona, which, according to a NOAA report, had sustained winds of 140 mph and caused an estimated $700 million in damage.
Luis Zamora, 40, is an electrical engineer who regularly visits the island from California for his work with the US Army and settles into a hotel with his colleagues. He was supposed to leave on Thursday, but received a message from United Airlines on Tuesday that his flight had been cancelled.
“Overnight you can definitely see the difference in the wind,” Zamora said. “You can hear it much louder…you can see the trees moving.”
A native of Florida, Zamora has prepared the same way he would for a hurricane: a bathtub full of water, charging his appliances before the power goes out, and stocking up on non-perishables. He also has confidence in the staff at his hotel, the Dusit Beach Resort, who have assured guests of their food supplies and emergency plans.
“I think Guam is well ahead of, you know, storm preparedness,” Zamora said. “It’s just the outcome, something you can’t really prepare for.”
Zamora and his colleagues are only a 10-minute drive from the airport, but it’s unclear how soon they’ll be able to return home after the storm passes.
“It’s just how much damage it’s going to do and when will everything be back up and running?”
Tropical storm-force winds blow over Tumon Bay, Guam on May 24, 2023.James Reynolds/AFP – Getty Images
Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero signed an executive order mandating evacuations from low-lying areas and mobilizing the National Guard to help people to shelters. In a letter to Biden, Guerrero warned that the typhoon is expected to cause “significant destruction to our island.”
“I anticipate that this situation will be of such severity and magnitude that an effective response will be beyond the ability of the government of Guam and that additional federal assistance will be required to save lives and protect property, public health and safety, and consequences of this impending catastrophe,” Guerrero said in the letter, which was posted to Instagram.
In a speech on YouTube, Guerrero urged people to stay indoors and make the necessary preparations.
“I know it’s been quite some time since we’ve had a storm of this magnitude and it’s frightening,” Guerrero said. “I ask that you remain calm, stay informed and, above all, be prepared.”
