How do you prepare when a storm powerful enough to level buildings is heading straight for your home?
That’s the reality facing thousands of people in Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands.
Super Typhoon Bavi barrels toward the US Pacific territories.
Forecasters expect the storm to make landfall early Monday with sustained winds of up to 257 km/h (160 mph) and waves reaching nearly 11 metres (35 feet).
The US National Weather Service warned that Bavi could bring “catastrophic” damage, life-threatening flooding, and dangerous conditions lasting for several hours.
Authorities have opened evacuation centres, though one shelter had already reached capacity by Sunday afternoon.
Communities On Alert
Residents have been urged to leave vulnerable homes before conditions become too dangerous.
For many, the storm is also an economic blow. Restaurant owner Pinky Cubacub spent hundreds of dollars boarding up her business.
She said, “I cannot afford to lose so many days.”
It hurts.” Meanwhile, stranded tourist Miku Sakurai admitted, “We will stay in the hotel when the storm comes. I am scared.”
Scientists say warmer ocean temperatures and a strong El Niño are fueling more intense tropical cyclones.
If Bavi lives up to forecasts, it will serve as another reminder that in a warming world, nature’s fiercest storms are becoming increasingly difficult to ignore.
