Typhoon Bavi slammed Rota at 9 a.m. local time Monday with peak sustained estimated winds near 180 mph. The storm also hit Guam and the U.S. Northern Mariana Islands, and it is forecast to brush Taiwan before reaching eastern China late this week.
On Rota, Bavi appeared to be the first Category 5 storm whose eye passed directly over the island. Category 4 Gilda also passed over Rota on Nov. 13, 1967, giving the island a rare comparison point for the scale of the strike.
Rota and Guam damage
Widespread damage was reported on Rota and other islands. A water distribution station near Rota's airport suffered structural damage, and power poles and lines were downed and bent at the airport. A wood structure with a tin roof was reportedly destroyed.
In Guam, numerous roads were flooded from heavy rain or storm surge, and rocks and debris left lanes of Marine Corps Drive impassable. Guam International Airport picked up 15.68 inches of rain on July 4-5, with more than 12 inches falling on July 5 alone.
Saipan International Airport and Tinian
Gusts of 111 mph were clocked at Saipan International Airport and at the National Weather Service in Guam. A gust of 94 mph was clocked on Tinian. Those readings show how far the storm's strongest winds reached across the Marianas, even beyond the island that took the direct hit.
Typhoon Bavi first became a tropical storm on July 1, then rapidly strengthened into a typhoon and later a super typhoon on July 3. It was moving northwest over 300 miles south of Okinawa while still expected to slowly weaken over the next couple of days.
Taiwan and China forecast
The storm had already sent heavy rain into the Philippines and was spreading into Taiwan and southern Japan. It could first pass over the southwest Japan Sakishima Islands Friday night, then close enough to at least parts of Taiwan on Saturday, before reaching parts of eastern China, including near Shanghai, Saturday night, as a minimal typhoon or tropical storm.
Bavi had also become larger, which could widen the area of Taiwan and eastern China that sees at least tropical-storm wind gusts by Friday and Saturday. That leaves residents and transport operators from Guam to Taiwan tracking not just the center line, but the broader wind field as the system keeps moving west.
