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Super Typhoon Bavi made landfall Monday over a tiny U.S. territorial island in the western Pacific near Guam, bringing powerful winds and torrential rain to the Northern Mariana Islands.
The eye of the storm passed over the island of Rota Monday morning local time, bringing winds of more than 150 mph, according to the National Weather Service. It was traveling at about 9 mph west toward the Philippines, the weather service said.
"Hang tight," National Weather Service meteorologist Brandon Aydlett said. "We're coming just out of the peak of conditions. It's going to be a slow improvement, but improvement is coming."
The storm impacted other parts of the Northern Mariana Islands, a U.S. territory, as well as Guam. The area was still recovering from another destructive cyclone that struck in April.
On the island of Saipan, the international airport recorded wind gusts of more than 100 mph, the weather service said. Many people living in Saipan and nearby Tinian had been without power since the Super Typhoon Sinlaku, the agency said.
Bavi was a Category 5 super typhoon with winds that could reach 180 mph per hour and gusts of 215 mph per hour, said weather service meteorologist Edwin Montvila.
In addition to Rota, typhoon and flash flood warnings were in effect for Guam, Tinian and Saipan, while tropical storm warnings and watches were in place for other islands in the area. The weather service said the storm could bring a total of at least 20 inches of rain by the time it passes through the region.
A cyclone becomes a super typhoon when it has maximum sustained winds of 150 mph or stronger.