One of the most powerful super typhoons on Earth this year hit the U.S. Pacific Islands on Monday morning, making it the second major storm to hit the region since April.
The center of Super Typhoon Babi, equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, passed over Rota Island, an island in the Northern Mariana Islands with a population of 2,000 people. The storm’s maximum sustained wind speeds are expected to exceed 180 mph, with wind speeds in excess of 150 mph on Rota Island, according to the National Weather Service.
Strong winds can knock down trees and power lines, cause long-term power outages, and cause catastrophic damage to buildings.
Torrential tropical rain caused massive flash flooding, and bands of heavy rain were expected to continue after passing through the eyewall.
Life-threatening coastal flooding was also expected as strong onshore winds pushed storm surge onto coastlines, while huge waves and dangerous waves made ocean conditions extremely dangerous.
Rota is located about 80 miles north of Guam and is home to some of the most important U.S. military facilities in the Pacific, including Andersen Air Force Base, considered essential to U.S. conflicts in the region.
The Air Force rotates bombers such as the B-1, B-2, and B-52 through Andersen, projecting power across the Pacific. U.S. Naval Base Guam is also the homeport for five U.S. Navy attack submarines.
Guam, with a total population of more than 150,000, is home to more than 7,000 active military personnel.
The U.S. military stationed in Guam posted on social media early Monday that it was at the highest level of storm preparedness and that damaging winds were expected.
Guam faces the possibility of hurricane-force winds and heavy rain, the Bureau of Meteorology announced.
Meanwhile, 125 miles north of Rota, residents of Saipan and Tinian were huddled in the aftermath of the second super typhoon to hit the region this year.
Like Guam, Category 1 winds in excess of 114 mph are possible on Saipan and Tinian, the weather service said.
Tinian, a small island that borders parts of Saipan, is recovering from being hit in April by Super Typhoon Shinraku, a Category 4 storm with winds of about 150 mph and gusts of up to 185 mph, but remains without power.
Shinraq dumped more than 20 inches of rain on parts of the Northern Mariana Islands, causing widespread flooding, prolonged power outages, and severe damage to homes and infrastructure on Saipan and Tinian.
Rather than moving quickly, Shinraku’s slow movement (in contrast to Bavi) caused destructive winds and torrential rain to continue pounding the islands for hours, exacerbating the effects.
Babi is expected to leave the Mariana Islands by Monday afternoon, heading west at roughly 10 to 13 miles per hour.
Tinian is the island where the B-29 bombers that dropped atomic bombs on Japan departed during World War II. Once the world’s busiest airport, Tinian Island’s North Field was closed after the war, but is being renovated as a replacement base for Guam as the U.S. government looks to spread its assets to the area.
