Typhoon Mawar Lashes Guam As Category 4 Storm With Strong Winds, Rain

GUAM, HAGATNA — On Thursday, Typhoon Mawar passed over Guam as a powerful Category 4 storm, lashing the US Pacific island territory with heavy rain, powerful winds, and a dangerous storm surge and knocking out power to many communities where terrified residents hunkered down for the night in homes and shelters.

The center of the typhoon passed over the northern tip of Guam on Wednesday evening, according to the National Weather Service. It is the most powerful storm to strike the territory of more than 150,000 people in decades. According to the meteorological agency, the maximum sustained winds persisted at 140 mph (225 kph) late Wednesday and were expected to increase throughout Thursday.

Social media videos showed downed trees, a flipped pickup truck, solar panels flying into the air, pieces of a multistory hotel wall collapsing and exposing rebar, and storm surges and waves slamming through coastal reefs. The initial extent of the destruction was difficult to determine, with power and internet outages making a connection with the remote island difficult to impossible while the storm dug an excruciatingly slow path.

Late Wednesday, the storm was moving northwest at 8 mph (13 kph), with a minor increase in speed forecast over the next day. It has been a slow-moving typhoon compared to others in the vicinity, which have traveled at speeds ranging from 10 to 15 mph (16 to 25 kph), according to NWS Guam warning coordination meteorologist Landon Aydlett.

According to Landon Aydlett, long-term forecasts locate Mawar deep in the Philippine Sea, bending northward but remaining northeast of the Philippines. He believes the storm might attain super typhoon classification, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph) or higher.

The storm brushed the extreme northern tip of Guam, but it was otherwise in the canal between the island and its neighbor to the north, Rota, according to Landon Aydlett. Peak winds reached 105 mph (169 kph) at the weather service office in Guam, but the agency lost its wind sensors afterward, he said. According to him, the building trembled with a “constant, low rumbling,” and its doors and windows swayed.

“We have peak conditions for a couple more hours.” “I think thrashing is the word,” he stated over the phone. “At this point, there are trees everywhere.” Many people will be surprised when daylight returns tomorrow.”

The weather service reported that lightning became a greater hazard as the night progressed. On Thursday morning, a flash flood warning was issued.

The storm might attain super typhoon classification, with maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph) or higher.

Powerful winds ripped a granite countertop from a hotel’s outdoor bar in Tumon, on the island’s northeastern shore, and flung it four feet in the air. As windows buckled and creaked, guests tried to stack chairs against hotel doors that were being blasted in by the gusts.

The storm’s center made landfall on Guam at about 9 p.m. local time Wednesday, which was Wednesday morning in the continental United States. Guam is located west of the International Date Line, ahead of the United States mainland and Hawaii, which are located 3,800 miles (6,115 km) to the east. The Philippine capital, Manila, lies 1,600 miles (1,575 km) west.

A typhoon warning was also issued for Rota, an island in the United States Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands. Tropical storm warnings were issued for Tinian and Saipan in the Northern Marianas. Since Category 5 Super Typhoon Yutu hit in 2018, some individuals in those areas have been living in temporary shelters or tents.

The weather service warned of a highly dangerous and life-threatening condition in Guam, advising residents to seek shelter and stay there for the next few hours.

“This is going to be a long night.” “It’s going to be scary because there’s no electricity unless you have a generator,” Brandon Aydlett, the weather service’s scientific and operations officer and Landon Aydlett’s twin brother, said in a Facebook Live video. “Confidentially reassure your youngsters. It’s going to get a little terrifying as the night progresses. The sounds are audible: the winds are howling and objects are breaking. Simply being together and talking to each other will cause things to slow down towards midnight and continue until Thursday morning.”

He urged people to stay in shelters and get as much sleep as possible before “a long day tomorrow as we start the recovery process.”

By the afternoon, many settlements on the 212-square-mile (549-square-kilometer) island had lost power, and some to the south had lost water service. Forecasters anticipated up to 25 inches (64 centimeters) of rain and a life-threatening storm surge of 4 to 6 feet (1.2 to 2 meters), prompting a flash flood alert for the island.

Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero advised coastal, low-lying, and flood-prone district residents to evacuate to higher ground ahead of the storm. Mount Lamlam in the southwest is the highest peak on the island, rising 1,334 feet (406 meters). However, much of Tamuning’s seaside tourism sector, where numerous resorts are located, is close to sea level.

Residents were picked up at island community centers and transported to 11 elementary schools converted into shelters. Village officials advised residents to secure loose objects in their yards and take shelter immediately. Some used a loudhailer to disseminate the word, while others used social media. As the rain and wind intensified, the power flickered intermittently, and officials estimated roughly 900 people were in shelters.

Guerrero stated that an emergency declaration granted by President Joe Biden will help mobilize resources to Guam, which is “especially critical given our distance from the continental United States.”

Reuel Drilon, a resident of low-lying Agat on the southern coast, said practically every home in the community has a mango tree, which officials warned might create obstacles and dangerous flying projectiles.

“A lot of folks are keeping their eyes on trees,” he remarked before the storm arrived.

Guam is a vital Pacific US military center, and the Pentagon controls roughly one-third of the island. Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, commander of Joint Region Marianas, authorized the evacuation of defense personnel, dependents, and employees from affected regions.

The military said it put its ships out to sea as a precaution. It flew its planes off the island or parked them in secure hangars. Any surviving personnel on the island were taking cover. According to the Pentagon, around 6,800 US service troops are stationed in Guam.

SOURCE – (AP)