Category 5 Super Typhoon Bavi moving over Northern Marianas

Category 5 Super Typhoon Bavi is moving across the Northern Mariana Islands with sustained winds of 180 mph, bringing catastrophic conditions to Rota as residents in the U.S. territory are ordered to shelter in place, according to officials.

The eyewall of Bavi is passing over Rota on Monday morning local time, with an extreme wind warning in effect for the island, according to emergency officials in the Northern Marianas. Widespread destructive winds above 150 mph are occurring.

Rota is one of the main islands in the Northern Marianas, a U.S. commonwealth in the western Pacific, located north of Guam. Officials in Saipan, Tinian and Rota are telling residents to remain indoors, stay in an interior room on the lowest floor and keep away from windows and doors.

At 7 a.m. local time, the center of Bavi was about 20 miles east of Rota, 55 miles south of Tinian, 65 miles south-southwest of Saipan and 70 miles northeast of Guam. The storm was moving west-northwest at 9 mph, according to the CNMI Emergency Operations Center.

Typhoon warnings are in effect for Guam, Rota, Tinian and Saipan, where typhoon-force winds of at least 74 mph are occurring or imminent. A tropical storm warning is in effect for Alamagan, while Pagan and Agrihan are under a tropical storm watch.

Guam remains under its highest readiness level as conditions continue to deteriorate. Officials there said sustained winds of 50 to 80 mph, with gusts up to 100 mph, are expected through late Monday afternoon local time, with the worst conditions expected between 8 a.m. and noon.

Rainfall of 12 to 20 inches is possible during Bavi’s passage, creating a risk of flash flooding through early Tuesday, officials said. Life-threatening seas are expected to continue until Thursday, and residents are being told to stay out of the water.

President Trump approved an emergency declaration for the Northern Mariana Islands two days before the storm, allowing federal assistance to support local response efforts.

The Northern Marianas have been struck by several powerful typhoons in recent decades. Super Typhoon Yutu devastated Tinian and Saipan in 2018 as one of the strongest storms on record to hit U.S. territory, while Saipan was also hit hard by Typhoon Soudelor in 2015.

Officials said Bavi is expected to remain near its current intensity as it passes through the Marianas and moves west on Tuesday.