Super Typhoon Bavi, moving at 8 mph, was hundreds of miles from Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as of 1 p.m. July 6, 2026, with sustained high winds. (NOAA)
Super Typhoon Bavi inched westward away from the United States’ westernmost territories Monday evening after making a direct hit on the small island of Rota.
Bavi, the second-strongest storm of the typhoon season so far, entered the region with maximum sustained winds of 180 mph and heavy rainfall. The Category 5-equivalent storm passed over Rota just after 9 a.m., according to National Weather Service updates on Monday.
The eye of the storm provided a brief respite for the 32-square-mile island, but destructive conditions quickly resumed and authorities urged the island’s 2,000 residents to shelter in place.
The NWS described the storm as “catastrophic” and “life-threatening” with widespread destructive winds and extreme eyewall conditions.
Guam was scoured by winds from 40 to 80 mph with gusts of 90 to 100 mph throughout the day, according to an 11:30 a.m. Monday bulletin from the island’s Joint Information Center. The storm left fallen trees, downed utility lines, rockslides and flooding that made numerous roadways impassable or hazardous, according to a 4:45 p.m. JIC bulletin.
“Do not attempt to drive around barricades or through flooded roadways. Stay off the road,” the center said in its later update. “Any additional vehicles on the road hinders emergency responders and delays the expedited clearing of the roads.”
The island and its three major military bases — Andersen Air Force Base, Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz and Naval Base Guam — remained in Condition of Readiness 1 and Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1, the center said.
The center warned residents to stay out of the water and away from shorelines due to life-threatening surf; and advised that an another to 10 inches of rain are still possible.
Bavi continued westward at about 8 mph and was about 60 miles west of Rota, 75 miles west of Guam and approximately 100 miles southwest of Tinian and Saipan, according to a 2 p.m. NWS update.
Guam opened five emergency shelters on Saturday as the storm approached.
The Coast Guard closed the ports of Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota; pulled its small boats from the water and sent its cutters elsewhere to ride out the storm, according to a news release Saturday from U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam.
Coast Guard crews were standing by with boats, aircraft and cutters staged for deployment as soon as conditions allow, though they weren’t expected to begin work before Tuesday, Sector Guam spokeswoman Lt. Sara Muir told Stars and Stripes by email Monday.
“Our personnel in the Marianas are accounted for at this time,” she wrote. “Most are without power, and some are without water.”
Multiple power outages occurred due to downed power lines and other issues, with more outages expected later in the day, and water service to parts of Guam was also cut off, according to a 2 p.m. JIC update.
Bavi is the second major storm to affect the region this year following Super Typhoon Sinlaku in mid-April.
Sinlaku’s strong winds and sporadic flooding resulted in more than $450 million in damages to Guam, Pacific Daily News reported May 15, citing Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero.
