The U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam overflies the Port of Guam on July 7, 2026, to assess conditions after Super Typhoon Bavi. (Whip Blacklaw/U.S. Coast Guard)
Recovery efforts on Guam and the Northern Marianas Islands continued Wednesday in the wake of Super Typhoon Bavi, which rumbled through the U.S. territories earlier this week on its way toward Taiwan.
Saipan’s port fully reopened and Guam’s port opened for cargo, paving the way for further recovery efforts across the Northern Marianas, according to a spokeswoman for U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam.
Cargo started moving again through the Port of Guam at 1 p.m. Wednesday, but Apra Harbor remained closed to traffic due to a displaced buoy and ongoing assessments, the port said in a 12 p.m. news release.
“We are moving as fast as safety allows, one assessment at a time, because getting it right is what prevents longer delays down the road,” Sector Guam spokeswoman Lt. Sara Muir said by email Wednesday said.
Joint Region Marianas, which oversees Department of Defense installations in the region, said initial assessments found “no reports of significant damage to critical infrastructure or injuries to personnel” at Andersen Air Force Base, Marine Corps Base Camp Blaz, Naval Base Guam and other sites.
Follow-on assessments continue across the region, spokeswoman Navy Lt. Cmdr. Kristina Wiedemann said by email Wednesday.
U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam overfly Rota on July 7, 2026, to assess damage on the island after Super Typhoon Bavi on July 6. (Whip Blacklaw/U.S. Coast Guard)
Rota, a 33-square-mile island northeast of Guam seen here from a U.S. Coast Guard aircraft on July 7, 2026, suffered significant damage from a direct hit by Super Typhoon Bavi on July 6. (Whip Blacklaw/U.S. Coast Guard)
The Mayors Council of Guam canceled the island’s Liberation Day Parade on July 21, Guam’s annual celebration marking the end of three years of Japanese occupation during World War II, Kuam News reported Wednesday.
The Category 5-equivalent typhoon passed directly over 33-square mile Rota on Monday morning, putting its two harbors and airport out of commission and damaging or destroying most of the island’s homes.
Bavi on Wednesday was a Category-4 equivalent storm on track for Taiwan and Ishigaki, about 300 miles southwest of Okinawa in Japan’s Nansei Islands, according to a Wednesday afternoon update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center.
The storm is forecast to pass about 300 miles southwest of Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, just past midnight Friday as a Category 3-equivalent typhoon. Significant relief cannot reach the 2,000 residents of Bavi until larger ports reopen due to logistics in the island chain, according to the Coast Guard.
Cargo vessels and other ships typically stop at Guam or Saipan en route to the smaller islands, so those ports must reopen first, Muir told Stars and Stripes by email Wednesday.
“Our crews spent Tuesday on the water and in the air across the Marianas, conducting more assessments and methodically clearing the waterways so we can reopen these ports the right way, the first time,” she said.
Reopening the primary ports also frees up vessels and personnel for relief efforts elsewhere, Muir added.
Guam, the United States’ westernmost territory, fared better than Rota but the storm significantly damaged the islands’ utilities and public infrastructure.
More than two-thirds of the island was without power Wednesday morning, according to a 10 a.m. Facebook post from the Guam Power Authority. Of the island’s 120 water wells, 74 were online, the Guam Waterworks Authority said in a 3 p.m. update by the island’s Joint Information Center.
Spokespeople for Rota’s government could not be reached for comment as of Wednesday afternoon.
