Mawar Gains Strength After Thrashing Guam, Becoming a Super Typhoon

Guam citizens had surveyed the damage from typhoon Mawar. A hurricane brought down coconut and mango trees and cut out power across much of the Guam region. Residents waited in line outside open stores to buy food and supplies. Many companies were out of electricity and internet so they were only accepting cash, also some of the ATMs were not working. As the storm traveled over open sea, Mawar was upgraded to a super typhoon. Its maximum sustained winds were at least 150 miles per hour. According to a local National Weather Service meteorologist, the storm produced Category 4-level winds of around 140 miles per hour as it passed over Guam “just prior to midnight” local time on Wednesday.

Mawar was the most powerful storm to hit Guam in years, and it was predicted to continue generating tropical storm-force winds before fading on Thursday. The storm had moved 105 miles northwest of Guam as of 11am local time, although typhoon warnings remained in effect, according to the forecaster. There were no reports of deaths or injuries at the time. However, the storm was so powerful that it destroyed wind sensors and radar equipment used to transmit meteorological data to the local Weather Service office. Mawar also brought down trees outside the structure. The agency stated that a large area of Guam was without phone service and that its own office will close and relocate forecast activities to Honolulu so that employees could return home. According to the interview of the citizens, they said that “inside their homes they could hear the howling winds and banging sounds from the background”.

Forecast models indicated that the super typhoon was strengthening and would move westward toward Taiwan and the Philippines. According to the Guam Power Authority, just around 1,000 of the island’s approximately 52,000 customers had access to the energy grid as of Wednesday afternoon, and it was too risky for repair workers to go outdoors. As of Thursday morning in Guam, those data had not been updated. The U.S. military, which has a number of significant facilities on the island, was also being impacted by the Mawar typhoon. According to a statement released on Wednesday by Lt. Cmdr. Katie Koenig of the U.S. Nav, all military aircraft either left the island before the storm or were stored in secure hangars. Mawar, a Malaysian name that translates to “rose” is the second named storm this season to make landfall in the Western Pacific. In less than two days it began to weaken.

[Reference]

Moyer, J., Cagurangan, M., Ives, M., & Taylor, D. B. (2023, May 24). Mawar gains strength after thrashing Guam, becoming a Super Typhoon. The New York Times. https://www.nytimes.com/2023/05/24/us/typhoon-mawar-guam.html

Image source – https://edition.cnn.com/2023/05/23/weather/typhoon-mawar-guam-forecast-track-tuesday/index.html