Super Typhoon Bavi makes Category 5 landfall over Rota, Guam and Northern Marianas battered while still recovering from Typhoon Sinlaku
Super Typhoon Bavi made landfall over Rota today as a Category 5, sustained winds near 180 mph. Power is out across Guam and Saipan, roads flooded, flash floods reported. Andersen Air Force Base is restricted to essential staff. The islands were still recovering from Typhoon Sinl
Residents across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are without power tonight after Super Typhoon Bavi made landfall over the island of Rota on Monday morning local time as a Category 5 storm, with sustained winds near 180 mph and the eye passing directly overhead. The National Weather Service recorded winds above 150 mph as the core crossed Rota, and officials across the territory are reporting flash floods, flipped vehicles, debris-strewn roads and major damage to the Rota mayor's office. Guam and Saipan are dealing with widespread outages, and Andersen Air Force Base has restricted access to essential personnel only. What makes this storm especially punishing is the timing. These islands are still digging out from Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which struck in April. Roughly 1,300 families remain in temporary tents, and parts of Saipan and Tinian have gone more than two months without restored power. A second Category 5 landfall before the first recovery is finished stretches emergency shelters past capacity and compounds damage on infrastructure that was never fully repaired. For a US territory of more than 150,000 residents that sits at the center of American defense posture in the Pacific, back-to-back super typhoons in a single season leave little room for the islands to catch their breath. Source: NPR / CBS News