Super Typhoon Bavi lashes Guam and Rota as Category 5 storm moves away from the Marianas

Super Typhoon Bavi lashes Guam and Rota as Category 5 storm moves away from the Marianas

Super Typhoon Bavi was pulling away from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands on Monday night after a violent Category 5 pass through the Marianas, but officials warned that the danger had not ended: typhoon warnings, flood watches, coastal flood warnings and high surf warnings remained in effect as damaging winds, flooding rain and dangerous surf continued across the U.S. Pacific territories.

The National Weather Service office in Tiyan, Guam, said in its 7 p.m. ChST Monday advisory that Bavi was about 150 miles northwest of Guam and 145 miles west-northwest of Rota, moving west-northwest at 13 mph with maximum sustained winds of 165 mph. The storm’s center was moving away from the Marianas and into the open Philippine Sea, forecasters said, but tropical storm conditions were still occurring across parts of the island chain.

A typhoon warning remained in effect for Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan and surrounding coastal waters. A tropical storm warning remained in effect for Alamagan, while Pagan and Agrihan remained under a tropical storm watch. The Weather Service said damaging winds of at least 39 mph were occurring in the warning area, with the storm still large enough to spread tropical storm-force winds up to 320 miles from its center.

Guam’s Joint Information Center said Monday afternoon that Bavi had already made its closest point of approach to Guam, but the island remained in Condition of Readiness 1, the territory’s highest readiness posture, and residents were told to stay indoors until officials lower the condition to COR 4. Military installations remained in Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1.

“The eyewall of Super Typhoon Bavi made a direct passage over Rota this morning,” the Joint Information Center said in a Monday 3:15 p.m. release. “Although the storm is moving away from the islands, hazardous conditions remain.”

For Guam, officials said sustained winds of 45 to 60 mph, with gusts up to 80 mph, were expected to continue through the afternoon. The Weather Service’s local statement later Monday said sustained, damaging southwest to south winds of 40 to 60 mph, with gusts to 90 mph, could continue into the night before dropping below damaging levels early Tuesday.

The situation appeared especially severe on Rota, the small island about 40 miles northeast of Guam that the storm’s eyewall crossed Monday morning. The Weather Service said Rota could see sustained winds of 50 to 70 mph with gusts to 100 mph after the closest pass as Bavi pulled away, while earlier reports cited by NPR said the eye passed directly over the island.

There were no confirmed fatality figures available from the official releases reviewed Monday. Officials had not yet issued a full damage assessment, and Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said, according to NPR, that she planned to assess damage Tuesday morning once conditions allowed. Early reports pointed to power outages, debris, flooded roads and damaged public buildings, but the scope of the damage on Rota, Guam, Saipan and Tinian remained unclear.

The storm was still at catastrophic intensity after its closest pass. The Weather Service said Bavi had weakened from 175 mph at 1 p.m. ChST to 165 mph by 7 p.m. ChST, but it was forecast to maintain that intensity through Tuesday night as it moved farther into the Philippine Sea. Earlier Monday, the local Weather Service statement described Bavi as a Category 5 super typhoon exiting western Rota waters.

Bavi’s wind field remained enormous. At 7 p.m. ChST, typhoon-force winds extended up to 70 miles from the center and tropical storm-force winds extended up to 320 miles, according to the Weather Service. That broad circulation is why the hazard did not end with the center’s departure: the rear side of a typhoon can keep producing damaging winds, flooding rain and coastal inundation for hours after the eye has passed.

The Weather Service warned that people in Guam and the Northern Marianas should remain inside and away from windows, avoid going outside during temporary lulls and keep phones charged for emergency communication. “Do not venture outside when high winds are occurring or during temporary lulls as flying debris can easily — and suddenly — cause serious injury,” forecasters said.

Flooding was another major concern. The Weather Service said a flood watch was in effect for all of Guam and the Northern Marianas, with flood warnings ongoing in some areas Monday afternoon. Intense showers and thunderstorms were expected to produce flooding and potential mudslides, with additional rainfall accumulations of 5 to 10 inches possible based on satellite estimates.

Guam’s emergency managers said a flood watch remained in effect through late Tuesday night and warned that heavy rain and thunderstorms could cause flooding in low-lying and flood-prone areas. Earlier Monday, the Joint Information Center said rainfall of 12 to 20 inches was possible during Bavi’s passage, creating a risk of flash flooding through early Tuesday morning.

Coastal hazards also remained life-threatening. The Weather Service said 6 to 8 feet of wind- and wave-driven run-up remained possible as Bavi pulled away, with dangerous surf up to 20 feet. Guam officials said residents should stay out of the water and away from shorelines until conditions improve, warning that dangerous marine conditions could continue through Thursday.

The storm also disrupted water and wastewater systems on Guam. The Guam Waterworks Authority reported low or no water service in parts of Agana Heights, Barrigada, Chalan Pago-Ordot, Dededo, Mangilao, Sinajana and Yona, according to the Joint Information Center. Officials said the Ugum Surface Water Treatment Plant was secured shortly before midnight Sunday because of high turbidity from flash flooding during Bavi’s passage.

GWA said 97 wells were online, with 59 operating on standby power generation. The agency warned that outages and low pressure could continue as crews adjust wells, pump stations and reservoirs in response to power loss, generator needs and storm damage. Several wastewater treatment plants were operating on generator power, and dispatchers had received three reports of possible sewer overflows in Dededo, Malesso’ and Yigo.

Officials said crews would make assessments and address pressure problems once weather conditions allow safe field operations. Residents were urged to report low or no water pressure, wastewater backups and sewer overflows to GWA dispatch.

The storm’s timing created an especially dangerous Monday for a region still recovering from earlier typhoon damage. NPR reported that some communities in the Northern Mariana Islands were still dealing with the aftermath of Typhoon Sinlaku, which hit the region in April. Landon Aydlett, a National Weather Service meteorologist in Guam, told NPR that many vulnerable communities live in substandard building materials and that some shelters in the region were packed.

Bavi rapidly intensified before reaching the Marianas. Yale Climate Connections, citing the Joint Typhoon Warning Center and Japan Meteorological Agency, reported that Bavi became the world’s third Category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026 after strengthening dramatically over very warm Pacific waters east of Guam. The storm had taken advantage of low wind shear, sea surface temperatures around 84 to 86 degrees and deep ocean heat content, the outlet reported.

The National Weather Service and Guam officials had warned for days that Bavi could bring catastrophic conditions near the center, including destructive winds, widespread power outages, storm surge, coastal inundation and dangerous seas. Guam’s Joint Information Center placed the island in COR 2 late Saturday, then escalated as the storm neared. By Monday morning, Guam and military bases were in COR 1, and officials were telling residents to remain indoors.

The official warnings Monday were blunt because the greatest danger after a close typhoon pass is often behavioral: people see improving skies, step outside too early and encounter live wires, falling debris, washed-out roads, unstable trees or sudden wind gusts. Guam emergency managers warned that impassable roadways were expected and said residents should remain off roads until COR 4 is announced.

For readers in the continental United States, Bavi is a reminder that hurricane-force disasters can strike U.S. communities far outside the Atlantic and Gulf hurricane map. Guam is a U.S. territory in the western Pacific, and the Northern Mariana Islands are a U.S. commonwealth. The people in Bavi’s path are U.S. residents facing a storm with winds comparable to the strongest Category 5 hurricanes.

The terminology is regional: in the western North Pacific, storms are called typhoons, not hurricanes, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center uses “super typhoon” for tropical cyclones with sustained winds of at least 150 mph. The public hazard, however, is familiar: destructive wind, storm surge, flooding rain, dangerous surf, power failures, blocked roads and prolonged recovery.

As of Monday night in Guam, the most important official instruction remained simple: stay inside. Bavi was moving away, but the Weather Service said tropical storm conditions were continuing and typhoon warnings remained active for Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan. The next Weather Service advisory was expected late Monday night ChST, followed by another scheduled advisory early Tuesday.

The immediate questions for Tuesday are the ones that determine the scale of the disaster: whether Rota sustained catastrophic structural damage from the eyewall; how long power, water and wastewater outages will last across Guam and the Northern Marianas; whether flooding and mudslides created additional emergencies; and whether officials can complete damage assessments without putting crews at risk.

For now, the verified picture is serious but still incomplete. Bavi was a Category 5 super typhoon when it crossed the Marianas, its eyewall passed directly over Rota, Guam remained under top readiness conditions after the closest approach, and official agencies were still warning residents not to travel, not to approach the water and not to assume the danger was over.

Sources: National Weather Service Tiyan, Guam; Guam Homeland Security/Office of Civil Defense Joint Information Center; NPR; Yale Climate Connections.