Starting today in the pacific ocean in the U.S. territory of Guam, where officials say they`re experiencing the worst storm in decades,
Typhoon Mawar has been slamming the island with heavy rain and strong winds, reaching speeds equivalent to those that a category four hurricane
would bring.
Now, did you know that typhoons and hurricanes are actually the same weather phenomenon? The difference is purely geographical. Hurricanes are
in the north Atlantic and northeast pacific oceans. Typhoons like Mawar, well, they`re in the northwest pacific. These scenes from Guam are scary.
The national weather service has warned that the storm could bring 15 to 20 inches of torrential rain or more. This can result in landslides and flash
flooding throughout the island.
According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center, maximum sustained winds were up to 140 mph, with gusts up to 165. It`s like being subjected to tornado
like wind speeds, but for long periods of time. Most of the island has lost power. But thankfully, at the time of this recording, no deaths have been
reported to CNN.
President Joe Biden approved an emergency declaration for the island on Tuesday. And FEMA, the federal emergency management agency, announced it
has more than 50 emergency relief personnel and dozens of other federal partners ready to provide emergency assistance on the ground.
Guam is home to about 150,000 people, including several U.S. military installations. Now, while Guam sits in the West Pacific ocean, an area
that`s prone to the world`s strongest tropical cyclones, it`s actually extremely rare for the island to be struck directly by a storm of this
strength. Only eight such storms like this have passed over this 30 miles wide island in the last 75 years.