Last Updated:
6/1/2023 23:35 Climate News CO2: 423.28 ppm
LY: 420.23 ppm
AP • 2023-05-31

Born in a typhoon: Many, including newborns, remain without electricity as Guam recovers from storm

Reports are emerging from Guam about the damage left behind by Typhoon Mawar. About a week after the storm hit, 28% of the island has electricity. Officials say 44% of cell phone towers are functional and about half the water system is operational. There are long lines for gas and officials estimate it will be four to six weeks before power is fully restored. Federal officials don't yet know exactly how many homes were destroyed. High school graduations are indefinitely postponed across Guam. Mothers who gave birth amid the storm are among those returning to homes with no electricity to cool down the muggy heat.

AP • 2023-05-26
Guam 'very blessed' with no early reports of major damage in the messy aftermath of Typhoon Mawar

Residents of Guam are cleaning up after Typhoon Mawar tore through the remote U.S. Pacific territory and ripped roofs off homes, flipped vehicles and shredded trees. Officials say there were minor injuries reported but no fatalities. The typhoon is the strongest to hit the territory of roughly 150,000 people since 2002. It briefly made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 4 storm. The island’s international airport flooded and the swirling typhoon churned up a storm surge and waves that crashed through coastal reefs and flooded homes. A police sergeant says Guam has been “very blessed” without any deaths or major damage.

AP • 2023-05-30
Offshore Typhoon Mawar lashes eastern Taiwan, northern Philippines as it heads for southern Japan

Typhoon Mawar lashed Taiwan’s eastern coast with wind, rains and large waves Tuesday but largely skirted the island after giving a glancing blow to the northern Philippines. The storm was moving slowly toward southern Japan. With waves crashing on the shoreline, residents of the Taiwanese fishing town of Yilan secured boats and homes against the stormy conditions. The slow-moving typhoon has lost some of its power since hitting Guam last week, but strong winds were still forecast for Taiwan. Authorities in the Philippines, too, are warning against complacency, saying the risks from landslides and typhoon-enhanced monsoon rains remain until Mawar blows away.

AP • 2023-05-29
Philippines warns of possible flooding, landslides as Typhoon Mawar slowly passes to north

Philippine officials began evacuating villagers, shut schools and offices and imposed a no-sail ban as Typhoon Mawar approached the country’s northern provinces. The storm is not expected to make landfall in the mountainous region. But forecasters warned that the typhoon would slow down considerably off the northernmost province of Batanes from Tuesday to Wednesday. That could cause flash floods and landslides. Mawar was moving northwest in the Pacific Ocean with 96 mph sustained winds after hitting Guam last week. Rescue workers were standing by and food packages have been prepared. More than 400 villagers have been evacuated to emergency shelters by Monday from high-risk areas.