Guam residents stock up, batten down as dangerous Super Typhoon Mawar closes in
CTV
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration as an intensifying Super Typhoon Mawar approached Guam, where anyone not living in a concrete house was urged to seek safety elsewhere and emergency shelters began to fill ahead of what could be the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in two decades.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration as an intensifying Super Typhoon Mawar approached Guam, where anyone not living in a concrete house was urged to seek safety elsewhere and emergency shelters began to fill ahead of what could be the most powerful storm to hit the U.S. Pacific territory in two decades.
Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said on social media that the declaration will support the mobilization of resources into Guam, which is "especially crucial given our distance from the continental U.S." Guerrero ordered residents of coastal, low-lying and flood-prone areas of the territory of over 150,000 people to evacuate to higher elevations.
Federal assistance will be needed to save lives and property and "mitigate the effects of this imminent catastrophe," Guerrero said in a letter to the president requesting a "pre-landfall emergency" for Guam. Officials warned residents who aren't in fully concrete structures -- many homes on the far-flung island are made of wood and tin -- to consider moving.
With rain from the storm's outer bands already falling on the territory, National Weather Service said the storm had been upgraded to a Category 4 "super typhoon," meaning maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph) or greater. Its centre was about 140 miles (225 kilometres) southeast of Guam late Tuesday local time and was moving to the north-northwest, according to the weather service.
The weather service said the storm was intensifying and warned of a "triple threat" of winds, torrential rains and life-threatening storm surge on Guam. The weather service said the storm could hit southern Guam around midday Wednesday, which is Tuesday evening in the mainland United States. Guam lies west of the International Date Line and is a day ahead of the mainland and Hawaii, which is 3,800 miles (6,115 kilometres) to the east. Manila, Philippines, is 1,600 miles (1,575 kilometres) to the west.
If Guam doesn't take a direct hit, it will be very close, said Patrick Doll, the lead weather service meteorologist in Tiyan, Guam.
Guerrero urged residents in a YouTube message to remain calm and ordered the National Guard to help those in low-lying areas evacuate as residents stocked up on water and generators.
