Residents across U.S. territories in the western Pacific are bracing for the potential arrival of a super typhoon, just months after the region was devastated by the most powerful tropical cyclone on Earth this year.
The U.S. Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, still reeling from Super Typhoon Sinlaku in April, has yet to fully restore power.
Many residents continue to live in tents, their homes destroyed by the ferocious winds and relentless rains. “We’re getting ready to do this all over again,” said Edwin Propst, a former lawmaker working in the governor’s office on Saipan, where it was already Friday. “The timing is terrible.”
Typhoon Bavi is projected to intensify into a super typhoon by Sunday night or early Monday, when it is expected to reach the Marianas, according to Paul Stanko, a senior meteorologist with the National Weather Service on Guam.
A cyclone earns the designation of super typhoon when its maximum sustained winds reach 150 mph (241 kph) or stronger, comparable to a high-end Category 4 or Category 5 storm.
As of Friday, Bavi was located 760 miles (1,223 kilometers) east of Guam, with maximum sustained winds of 80 mph (129 kph). Some residents are expressing a grim hope that Guam will bear the brunt of Bavi, offering a much-needed reprieve to their neighbors in the Northern Marianas as they slowly recover from Sinlaku.
“That’s what we’re actually hoping for because then Saipan wouldn’t get it as bad,” Stanko noted.
Propst confirmed hearing similar sentiments from people on Guam. “That’s so island-style,” he remarked. “God bless them for saying that.” Guam, known as “Where America’s Day Begins” due to its position west of the International Date Line and hours ahead of the U.S. mainland, is also home to two significant U.S. military bases.
Residents are already taking precautions, with Propst observing people covering windows with plywood and stocking up on gasoline, a necessity given the weeks-long lines at gas stations following Sinlaku.
The Rev. Francis Hezel, assistant pastor of Santa Barbara Catholic Church in Dededo, Guam, expressed hope that no island would suffer the storm’s full force. Having endured numerous typhoons, he remained cautiously optimistic that Bavi might change course.
“Right now the pattern is heading towards us, but those patterns change,” he said, even as church workers and residents prepared. “This is getting to be the normal thing now, typhoon preparedness,” Hezel added. “It’s happening more frequently.”
This increased frequency is linked to El Nino, a natural warming cycle that boosts hurricane season activity in the Pacific. Experts warn that El Nino, combined with a globe already warming from fossil fuel pollution, is likely to turbocharge extreme weather events worldwide.
While Sinlaku caused no land-based fatalities, Propst highlighted the ongoing grief for the six crew members of a cargo ship that capsized during the typhoon. Searchers recovered one body before the U.S. Coast Guard suspended its extensive search.
Despite significant progress in Sinlaku’s recovery, Propst lamented, “we’re not quite there yet.” He concluded, “A few more months would have been good.”
