Guam residents flee homes as powerful storm Bavi nears landfall

Bavi will mark the eleventh category four or five tropical cyclone to strike US territory within the past decade, surpassing the total number recorded across the previous 57 years combined.

Emergency crews are moving residents out of harm’s way across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as a powerful super typhoon closes in on the American Pacific territories.

Forecasters expect storm Bavi to make landfall early Monday morning, bringing winds reaching up to 257 kilometers per hour, according to the US National Weather Service. The agency described the storm as very dangerous and warned it could unleash catastrophic damage, including significant flooding from heavy rainfall and waves climbing to nearly 11 meters high on Monday.

The western Pacific region regularly experiences tropical cyclones, and while storms of this magnitude remain rare for American Pacific islands, scientists say climate change continues to make powerful typhoons more frequent. Forecasters expect Bavi to pass directly over Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands by Monday afternoon, though the weather service cautioned that destructive conditions could persist for eight to ten hours before and after the storm’s center arrives.

Officials warned that the window for evacuation is closing rapidly for anyone directed to leave by local authorities or living in homes vulnerable to high winds or flooding. The agency added that the storm’s winds will pose a deadly threat to anyone caught outside during the height of the event.

Guam, typically known as a popular tourist destination with a population of roughly 170,000 people, has opened five evacuation centers inside local schools. These sites can hold a combined maximum of about 1,700 people and are designed primarily for vulnerable residents. The island’s civil defense office reported at 1:00 p.m. local time Sunday that one evacuation site had already reached full capacity, forcing officials to redirect arriving residents to another location.

The Joint Typhoon Warning Center, a unit of the US Navy responsible for tracking tropical storms across the western Pacific, has classified Bavi as a super typhoon. Storms earn that designation when sustained winds exceed 130 knots, or about 150 miles per hour. The center predicts Bavi will carry winds of 150 knots, equivalent to roughly 173 miles per hour, when it reaches the islands, with gusts potentially reaching 180 knots. The weather service considers super typhoons capable of inflicting damage comparable to a category four or five hurricane.

Pinky Cubacub, a 55 year old business owner in Guam, told a news agency that she spent 500 dollars on plywood to board up the windows of her eatery ahead of the storm. She said she cannot afford to lose several days of business, explaining that her recently opened shop barely covers rent, utilities and supplies without leaving room for her own pay. She said she plans to stay in a hotel once the storm arrives and admitted feeling frightened about what lies ahead.

Bavi will mark the eleventh category four or five tropical cyclone to strike US territory within the past decade, surpassing the total number recorded across the previous 57 years combined. Meteorologists point to a strong El Nino event, a periodic warming pattern in Pacific surface waters that influences global weather, as a factor pushing more storms toward higher intensity levels this year.

Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands already endured one super typhoon earlier this year when Sinlaku struck in April, killing 17 people and causing an estimated 1.5 billion dollars in damage. Scientists explain that warmer ocean surface temperatures push additional moisture into the atmosphere, which in turn intensifies storm systems and increases their destructive potential.

Local officials continue urging residents to take the evacuation warnings seriously, given the storm’s classification and the destructive potential meteorologists have outlined. With evacuation centers already reaching capacity in some areas, authorities are working to ensure vulnerable residents have safe locations to shelter as the storm approaches. Business owners like Cubacub face difficult decisions balancing storm preparation costs against the financial strain of lost operating days, a challenge that has become increasingly common as the region faces more frequent high intensity storms in recent years.

As Bavi approaches, residents across both territories are bracing for what forecasters describe as one of the most dangerous storms to threaten the islands in recent memory, with authorities continuing to monitor conditions closely through the overnight hours leading into Monday’s expected landfall.