Emergency evacuations take place in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as a super typhoon hits US Pacific territories.
Bavi is expected to make landfall early Monday morning, with winds reaching 257 km/h (160 mph), according to the U.S. National Weather Service (NWS).
He warned the “very dangerous” storm could cause “catastrophic” damage, with “significant flooding from torrential rain” possible and potentially high waves of nearly 11 meters on Monday.
The Western Pacific region is particularly prone to tropical cyclones. Although storms of this strength are unusual for the U.S. islands, scientists say climate change is making powerful typhoons more common.
Bavi is expected to pass directly over Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands by Monday afternoon, but the NWS warned that destructive conditions could be expected for eight to 10 hours before or after the center of the storm arrives.
“The window closes quickly to evacuate if requested to do so by local authorities, or if your home is vulnerable to high winds or flooding,” the agency said, adding that the winds “will pose a deadly threat to those who venture outside.”
Guam, usually a sunny tourist destination with a population of about 170,000, opened five evacuation centers at its schools. These sites have a maximum capacity of around 1,700 places and are intended primarily for vulnerable people.
The island’s civil protection office said at 1:00 p.m. local time (03:00 GMT) on Sunday that one of the evacuation sites had already reached maximum capacity and people were being redirected to another site.
