‘Catastrophic’ Super Typhoon Bavi hits US island of Rota
Significant flooding, coastal inundation and catastrophic damage are predicted, the National Weather Service says
A “super typhoon” with equivalent force to a category-5 hurricane made landfall on the US island of Rota in the Pacific on Monday, the National Weather Service (NWS) said, warning of “catastrophic damage and [a] life-threatening situation”.
“The western eyewall of Super Typhoon Bavi is currently moving over the island of Rota. The latest forecast intensity is at 180mph (290km/h) as it passes over Rota,” the NWS said. “Catastrophic winds exceeding 150mph will continue across Rota during eyewall passage.”
The weather system also brought extremely strong winds and lashing rain to other parts of the Northern Marianas and the nearby separate US territory of Guam, collectively home to around 210,000 people.
The island group around 6,000 miles west of the western mainland United States was already hit by another super typhoon in April, Sinlaku, that caused widespread devastation, ripping off roofs, knocking over trees and leaving tens of thousands without power.
In 2023 another massive typhoon, Mawar, the biggest in decades, did huge damage.