HAGÅTÑA, Guam — Guam narrowly escaped a direct hit from Category 4 Typhoon Champi early Sunday after the storm made a last-minute turn to the west, keeping its most destructive winds largely offshore, RNZ reported.
Champi passed closest to the U.S. territory at 4:26 a.m. Sunday local time (11:26 a.m. Saturday Pacific), about 16 kilometers (10 miles) south of Merizo in southern Guam, with maximum sustained winds of 225 km/h (140 mph), National Weather Service Guam meteorologist Landon Aydlett said.
“Certainly, we had a near miss of this typhoon in all its intensity,” Aydlett said, as RNZ reported. “We’ve been very fortunate this morning.” He said an eyewall replacement cycle and dry air entering the storm overnight kept Champi from reaching super typhoon strength and limited the flash flooding that had been feared.
Guam International Airport recorded sustained winds of 72 to 88 km/h with gusts approaching 128 km/h, and Andersen Air Force Base saw gusts of 112 km/h. Southern Guam was hardest hit, under an extreme wind warning from about 4 a.m. to 5:30 a.m. “Stay in safe shelter. Don’t let your guard down,” Aydlett told residents.
The Northern Mariana Islands also avoided the worst. Rota remained under a typhoon warning, while Saipan and Tinian stayed under tropical storm warnings and typhoon watches. The governors of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands had requested emergency disaster declarations on Friday, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency said resources were unlikely to reach the islands for three to five days, The Guardian reported.
The islands are still recovering from Super Typhoons Sinlaku and Bavi, which struck in April and July.
Sources: RNZ, The Guardian
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