Howling winds and lashing rains battered Guam and the Northern Marianas early Monday, hours before a "super typhoon" with equivalent force to a category-5 hurricane was projected to slam into the US island of Rota.
"Over the past three hours, the system has taken a menacing turn westward toward Rota," the US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Center said, while the US National Weather Service (NWS) added that the storm is "heading directly for the island of Rota."
Super Typhoon Bavi was roaring westwards early Monday with maximum sustained winds nearing 290 kilometers (180 miles) per hour and gusts of 350 kmh (218 mph), according to the typhoon center.
The NWS called the typhoon "catastrophic," and said it was moving at almost 13 mph in the direction of the tiny Pacific island of about 1,500 residents that is the southernmost of the Northern Marianas islands.
Already on Sunday afternoon, there were few cars on the roads in Guam or the Northern Marianas -- between them home to some 210,000 people -- with police driving around warning people to take care.
Pinky Cubacub, 55, said as she boarded up the windows of her eatery that she had lined up early on Saturday to buy $500 worth of plywood at a lumber store.
"I cannot afford to lose so many days. It hurts," she told AFP.
Call center employee Arabella Paulino, 48, said: "My girls were saying to me it's scary. But it will be okay."
"My house is concrete, so the worst that can happen is a window could blow in," she told AFP.
Japanese tourist Miku Sakurai, 25, was supposed to fly back to Tokyo with her friends but their flight was cancelled.
"We will stay in the hotel when the storm comes. I am scared," the office worker told AFP.
Around a dozen surfers, however, were making the most of the windy conditions at one beach in Guam's Talofofo Bay.
"There's quite a lot of debris in the water but it's a lot of fun," said one of them.
Super Typhoon Sinlaku, which hit the region in mid-April, knocked out power for tens of thousands of inhabitants, uprooted trees, overturned cars and ripped metal roofs off buildings.
In 2023 another massive typhoon, Mawar, the biggest in decades, caused devastation too.
Bavi was forecast to pass Rota at around 8:00 am on Monday (2200 GMT Sunday), the NWS said.
If these late forecasts prove accurate, most of the area in Rota "will be uninhabitable for weeks, perhaps longer. Many non-concrete, non-reinforced homes will be destroyed, with total roof failure and wall collapse," it said.
"Nearly all trees will be snapped or uprooted and power poles downed. Fallen trees and power poles will isolate residential areas. Power outages will last for weeks to possibly months."
"By working together and taking the necessary precautions, we can help protect our families, neighbors and community. We pray for the safety of our people," Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog said.
The world's oceans experienced their hottest June on record and could set fresh highs in the months ahead, the European Union's Copernicus Marine Service said on Wednesday.
Warmer oceans help tropical storms to intensify and add more moisture, which can fall as heavy rain.
The World Meteorological Organization warned on Friday that El Nino, which typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts nine to 12 months, has already begun in the tropical Pacific and is likely to be strong.
The natural climate phenomenon warms surface temperatures in the central and eastern equatorial Pacific Ocean, bringing worldwide changes in winds, pressure and rainfall patterns.
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