Typhoon Champi Bears Down on Guam as a Category 4 Storm

Typhoon Champi rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 storm on Saturday, October 17, as it closed in on Guam. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center put its sustained winds at about 130 mph, with gusts above 160 mph, according to Public Radio Guam. Forecasters expect the center to pass just south of the island between 4 and 5 a.m. Sunday, local time, with winds near 150 mph. Champi was still intensifying Saturday evening. Every figure here is as of that report and may climb before the storm arrives.

The speed of the build is the story. Early Friday, Champi was a 40 mph tropical storm about 825 miles east of Guam, according to the National Weather Service in Guam. By Saturday morning it was an 85 mph typhoon. By Saturday evening it was a Category 4. The Weather Service has a typhoon warning in effect for Guam and Rota. Tinian and Saipan are under a tropical storm warning and a typhoon watch. Earlier forecasts called for 6 to 12 inches of rain, surf of 15 to 20 feet, and 2 to 3 feet of coastal inundation. Officials now warn of life-threatening coastal flooding. Guam is a United States territory, and Rota, Tinian and Saipan belong to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, so the households in the path are American households.

Guam moved to Condition of Readiness 1 at 1 p.m. Saturday. Residents are told to stay inside a sturdy, concrete-reinforced structure until officials announce Condition 4. Guam Homeland Security opened five public schools as emergency evacuation centers at 10 a.m. Saturday, with room for about 1,960 people. Officials urged anyone in a metal-roof or container home to move to a shelter. The Joint Information Center asked evacuees to bring a seven-day supply of food and water for each person, plus bedding, medications, a photo ID and important documents.

That packing list is a useful check for any household in storm country. A typhoon is the same storm as a hurricane, under the name used in the western Pacific, so the steps to prepare for a hurricane apply directly. Notice the number. Seven days of food and water per person goes well past the three-day kit most families start with. Island households plan for the longer window because resupply arrives by ship or by plane. Fill your water storage containers before the wind arrives, since a long outage can take the pumps down with the power. A stocked power outage kit covers light, radio and phone charging once the grid goes quiet.

Where it stands now: Champi is still strengthening, and the worst of the wind is expected overnight into Sunday morning, local time. Officials warn residents not to go outside if conditions turn calm, because the back side of the storm can follow the eye within minutes. The habits that help you survive a hurricane matter most in those hours. Cleanup on the islands will run far longer than the storm, as it does in the aftermath of a hurricane anywhere. If you live where a tropical system can reach, check this weekend that your water, food and batteries would cover seven days, not three. Be Prepared Not Scared!