Category 4 super typhoon passes over Guam with little damage.

Reuters || Shining BD

Published: 5/25/2023 4:46:31 AM
Trees sway due to strong winds from typhoon Mawar, in Tamuning, Guam, May 24, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from social media. M.F. Peoples/via REUTERS

Trees sway due to strong winds from typhoon Mawar, in Tamuning, Guam, May 24, 2023, in this screen grab obtained from social media. M.F. Peoples/via REUTERS

On Thursday, Super Typhoon Mawar wreaked havoc on the Western Pacific Island of Guam with winds as high as 150 mph (240 kph) and torrential rain. Despite this, Guam survived the storm unscathed.

According to the Guam Power Authority, all but 1,000 of the island's 52,000 homes and businesses were left without power. However, according to government officials, there was no unusual activity in hospital emergency rooms, and only minor damage like flooding, fallen objects, and downed power lines was experienced.
"I'm relieved that we're secure. Despite the storm, we survived. The worst has passed, declared the governor in a video message.

She nevertheless issued a warning to residents to remain indoors until the government issued a safety declaration.

After touring the island, a U.S. territory that is home to about 170,000 people, including about 10,000 U.S. military personnel, Guerrero declared, "It seems that roads are passable, but you should not be on the road."
She had compared the storm before it made landfall to Typhoon Karen, which largely flattened the island in 1962.
The U.S. National Weather Service (NWS) reported that the Super Typhoon Mawar's eye tracked just north of Guam early on Thursday and was moving slowly northwest at 8 mph while dropping up to 2 inches (5 cm) of rain per hour over the course of the night.

Social media users shared pictures of ominous clouds scudding over beaches, rain pelting buildings, and winds buckling palm trees.

The storm's wind speeds classified it as Category 4, which is just weaker than Category 5 on the Saffir-Simpson Hurricane Wind scale.

According to Landon Aydlett, the warning coordination meteorologist for the National Weather Service in Guam, people in Guam take typhoons seriously and typically seek shelter in reinforced concrete structures.
Guam's Office of Civil Defense issued a bulletin after the storm to inform the public that the highest level of alert was still in effect.

In addition to the hurricane-force winds, dangerous waves are still present. Due to life-threatening conditions, stay out of the water, the bulletin advised.
 

Shining BD