Super Typhoon Mawar aims at Guam
Emergency declaration, evacuation orders precede monster storm’s landfall
HONOLULU — Residents of Guam stockpiled supplies, battened down windows and abandoned wood and tin homes for emergency shelters as Super Typhoon Mawar bore down as the strongest storm to approach the U.S. Pacific territory in decades.
The U.S. military sent away ships, President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration and anyone not living in a concrete house was urged to seek safety elsewhere ahead of the typhoon, which was forecast to arrive as a Category 4 storm but had a chance to strengthen to a Category 5. The last Category 5 to make a direct hit in Guam was Super Typhoon Karen in 1962.
Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said on social media that the emergency declaration will support the mobilization of resources into Guam, which is “especially crucial given our distance from the continental U.S.” Leon Guerrero ordered residents of coastal, low-lying and flood-prone areas of the territory of over 150,000 people to evacuate to higher elevations.
Federal assistance will be needed to save lives and property and “mitigate the effects of this imminent catastrophe,” Leon Guerrero said in a letter to the president requesting a “pre-landfall emergency” for Guam. Officials warned residents who aren’t in fully concrete structures — some homes on the far-flung island are made of wood and tin — to consider relocating.
Guam is a crucial hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific, and the Department of Defense controls about a third of the island. Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, Joint Region Marianas commander, authorized the evacuation of defense personnel, dependents and employees in areas expected to be affected.
All ships were moved out to sea as a standard precaution, according to the Navy, and any personnel remaining on the island were sheltering in place. About 6,800 U.S. service members are assigned to Guam, according to the Pentagon.
With rain from the storm’s outer bands already falling on the territory, the National Weather Service said the storm had been upgraded to a Category 4 “super typhoon,” meaning maximum sustained winds of 150 mph or greater. Its center was about 90 miles southeast of Guam early today local time and was moving to the north-northwest, according to the weather service.
With rain from the storm’s outer bands already falling over the island as of late morning local time, the typhoon had maximum sustained winds of 140 mph with gusts peaking at 170 mph, said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Guam. Its center was about 75 miles southeast of the island and was moving to the north-northwest.
That was a slight downgrade from earlier when Mawar was reported to be a Category 4 “super typhoon,” meaning maximum sustained winds of 150 mph or greater. But it still posed extreme danger to life and property.
The weather service warned of “considerable damage” from a “triple threat” of winds, torrential rains and life-threatening storm surge and said it could hit this afternoon in southern Guam. The territory lies west of the International Date Line and is a day ahead of the U.S. mainland and Hawaii.
“This is going to be a rough afternoon for us across the island,” Aydlett said. “So watch out.”
If Guam doesn’t take a direct hit, it will be very close, said Patrick Doll, the lead weather service meteorologist in Tiyan, Guam. Mawar is a Malaysian word that means “rose,” he noted.
Leon Guerrero urged residents in a YouTube message to remain calm and ordered the National Guard to help those in low-lying areas evacuate as people stocked up on water and generators.
“We are at the cross-hairs of Typhoon Mawar,” she said. “Take action now, stay calm, stay informed and stay safe.”
A storm surge of 4 to 6 feet was expected, with dangerous surf of 20 to 30 feet, the weather service said.
The storm was moving at 6 mph but had an eye 17 miles wide, meaning people at the typhoon’s center could see calm conditions for over three hours and conclude, far too soon, that the worst is over, Doll said. As the eye leaves, the winds could rise to 150 mph in minutes, so people should remain sheltered until the government gives the allclear, he said.
“Folks may say, ‘Hey it’s over, we could go outside and start cleaning up,’” Doll said. “That is totally wrong.”