Typhoon Mawar hits U.S. territory with high winds

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More than 90 percent of Guam residents lost power Wednesday when Typhoon Mawar hit the island’s north shore, officials said. Wind gusts reached 165 miles per hour, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, the equivalent of a Category 4 Atlantic hurricane. It is the strongest storm to hit Guam since 2002. The United States National Weather Service warned that flash floods could occur on the island through Thursday.

How did residents prepare for the storm? Guam Governor Lou Leon Guerrero on Tuesday ordered people living in flood-prone areas to evacuate. School buses took residents to 11 elementary schools converted into shelters. President Joe Biden on Tuesday approved an emergency declaration for the U.S. territory and more than 50 federal emergency response personnel are stationed on the island.

Dig deeper: From the WORLD archives, read Onize Ohikere’s report on Cyclone Idai, which devastated Mozambique in 2019.

Lauren Canterberry

Lauren Canterberry is a reporter for WORLD. She graduated from the World Journalism Institute and the University of Georgia with a degree in journalism, both in 2017. She worked as a local reporter in Texas and now lives in Georgia with her husband.