Super Typhoon Bavi prompts emergency preparations in Northern Mariana Islands
HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – Residents across the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands spent Thursday preparing for the arrival of Super Typhoon Bavi, a Category 5 storm expected to bring winds of up to 160 mph as it nears the region.
The storm comes just three months after Super Typhoon Sinlaku caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damage across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, leaving many communities still recovering.
“Many still do not have power, and many people have lost their homes or have sustained damage to their homes,” said Thomas Manglona, founder of Marianas Press in Saipan. “And here we are again, with another super typhoon about to hit us in the next day or two.”
Manglona said shelters on Saipan and Tinian opened Thursday, earlier than usual, to give families more time to evacuate. Shelters on Rota were scheduled to open Friday, Chamorro Standard Time.
He said residents are rushing to gather emergency supplies while continuing to recover from the last storm.
“Many people are just preparing, getting the gas they need for their generators, for their cars, getting the plywood they need to board up their homes and close their shutters, getting the groceries they need for not just the storm, but for a few days after, if not weeks or months,” Manglona said. “We’re very much in active preparation mode here while we’re still recovering.”
As residents prepare, the U.S. Coast Guard is urging people across the Marianas to complete storm preparations as soon as possible.
The agency said it is coordinating with the National Weather Service, Guam Homeland Security, CNMI emergency management officials and other local and federal partners ahead of the storm.
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Manglona said a federal emergency declaration signed by President Donald Trump will allow resources to be positioned before Bavi makes landfall.
“President Trump signed the declaration for the Marianas, which opens up a lot of federal support to mobilize before the storm hits,” he said.
Landon Aydlett, warning coordination meteorologist with the National Weather Service in Guam, said the storm is another reminder why the region is known as “Typhoon Alley.”
“This is going to be one of those years why we are known as Typhoon Alley,” Aydlett said.
Aydlett said the region remains vulnerable after Sinlaku and warned residents to take Bavi seriously.
“The support that came from Hawaii after Sinlaku means so much to the islands over here and probably the support that’s going to come after this one,” Aydlett said. “We don’t know how this is going to unfold in the next 48 hours. This is why we’re all on guard and taking this threat very seriously. But we are going to get through it together.”
Aydlett said the ongoing super El Nino pattern could mean Bavi will not be the last powerful typhoon to threaten the region this season.
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