Another Typhoon—Bavi This Time
Barely had I returned to Guam after a month in the US when the weather advisories began. First came a weather disturbance, then a tropical storm, then a typhoon, until it finally became a super typhoon. Winds were estimated to reach 180 mph, and the southern Marianas lay directly in its path toward Asia.
Here we go again, I said to myself. Another countdown until it hit, with updates on wind speed and course direction as the government steadily raised the alert level. Meanwhile, I thought, let me finish some catch-up work after a month of travel.
Sure enough, the typhoon reached us on Monday. It did not make a direct hit, since the eye passed near Rota to the north, but it came close enough to do more than rattle windows and shake roofs. From morning until early evening, the winds howled and rain battered the sides of our rectory. (The force of the wind carries the rain almost horizontally, so it doesn’t really “fall.”) None of us would have been tempted to leave the house and test our strength against the wind, I can assure you. The wind speed may not have reached the predicted peak, but I’m sure it topped 100 mph at times.
As expected, the power went out not long after the storm arrived. A day later it was still off, and another countdown began, this time until we had lights, hot coffee, and internet once again. The day before the storm I bought a couple of packs of AAA batteries so I could read while we waited it out. Others in the store were loading up on bottled water, canned corned beef and Spam, and toilet paper. I already had my blueberry muffins, crackers, and slightly moldy cheese, so I was all set.
I might have been safe, but what about everyone else on the island? The 900 or so homeless people on Guam were taken to shelters that had opened several days before the storm to provide food and other necessities. Those living in wood-and-tin houses were also encouraged to seek refuge in the public schools. As with the last typhoon, no lives were lost, although many tin sheds were blown apart. Major structural damage was minimal, if you don’t count the traffic signals.
Now we simply sit and wait until the power returns and normal life resumes. (Postscript: Electricity was restored the day after the storm.)
