Super Typhoon Bavi Batters Guam and Northern Mariana Islands as Category 5, Knocking Out Power and Closing Ports

Super Typhoon Bavi crossed Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands as a top-end Category 5 storm, knocking out power and communications, littering roads with debris and forcing ports to remain closed as it moved west-northwest toward Asia.

NASA said in a July 9 report that Bavi reached super typhoon intensity in the early hours of July 4 local time, making it the third Category 5 tropical cyclone of 2026. The storm packed sustained winds of about 175 to 180 mph, according to NASA and National Weather Service Guam advisories. NASA said a nighttime satellite image taken around 15:30 UTC on July 5 showed Bavi’s eye before it later passed over Rota.

Across Guam, Rota and Saipan, local officials reported a familiar pattern of typhoon damage: downed power poles and lines, flooded roads, widespread debris and damage affecting water infrastructure. Guam was placed under COR-1, also known as Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness 1, the highest local alert level before and during destructive winds. Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero said as the storm approached, “Here we are experiencing another severe force of winds on our island, but as we know, we are always ready and prepared in our planning and our protection of our people.”

The scale of the disruption was still evident days later. In a July 7 restoration update, the Guam Power Authority said that as of 3 p.m. ChST, only 17% of system load had been restored. The utility said 25 of 67 distribution feeders were partially energized, along with 25 of 30 major substations, and that 255 megawatts of generation was online, supporting about 41 megawatts of load. Communications were also heavily affected. The Federal Communications Commission said Rota had 9 of 11 cell sites out, or 81.8%; Saipan had 28 of 73 out, or 38.4%; and Guam had 90 of 240 out, or 37.5%. The agency also reported about 17,379 cable and wireline subscribers without service in the disaster area, and said it activated disaster procedures and granted emergency authority to SpaceX to provide supplemental satellite coverage for Guam and the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands.

Transport and supply chains also faced delays. The U.S. Coast Guard said July 7 that Marianas ports remained under Port Heavy Weather Condition ZULU and were closed to commercial traffic while crews assessed harbors and waterways. “My team is on the water and in the air methodically checking our waterways before we lift restrictions,” said Capt. Jessica Worst, commander of U.S. Coast Guard Forces Micronesia/Sector Guam. She added: “We will reopen these ports deliberately, one assessment at a time, because getting it right is what prevents longer delays and keeps people and our ports safe.”

The storm was both a regional weather emergency and a U.S. domestic disaster story. Guam is a U.S. territory, and the Northern Mariana Islands are a U.S. commonwealth. Bavi also struck just months after Super Typhoon Sinlaku hit the Marianas in April, making this the second major typhoon strike on the island chain in 2026 and adding to recovery strain.

National Weather Service meteorologist Edwin Montvila warned as Bavi neared that “entering outside can result in death from flying projectiles. Utility poles and associated power lines will be down.” By July 6 through July 8, NASA and the weather service said Bavi was moving away from the Marianas into the Philippine Sea on a west to northwest track toward Asia and was forecast to weaken over the following days. No authoritative final casualty or overall damage total was available in the source material.