(CNN) — Super Typhoon Mawar left Guam and the island’s hurricane watch was lifted at 5 p.m. local time Thursday (3 a.m. ET), the island’s governor, Lou Leon Guerrero, said.
There have been no deaths or serious injuries so far, Leon Guerrero told CNN on Thursday, adding that the hurricane left a lot of damage and flooding, but the situation was not as bad as officials had feared, thanks mostly to infrastructure. Island.
Strong winds are still in effect, and the governor is advising people to stay indoors until the situation calms down. It is expected to fly in the next few days, but not today.
The Guam Power Authority (GBA) has begun the process of restoring power supply after the hurricane, it said in a statement Thursday. It announced on Wednesday that only 1,000 of its roughly 52,000 customers still have power.
Water supplies have also been disrupted in parts of the island, journalist Gina Reilly told CNN Thursday from Barricade in central Guam.
“I’ve been here 20 years. This is the strongest I’ve ever been,” Reilly said.
Mawar storm intensifies
Super Typhoon Mawar has strengthened as it moved off Guam and now has sustained winds of 265 km/h with gusts of 320 km/h, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said. This makes Mawar the equivalent of a Category 5 Atlantic hurricane.
Cyclone Mawar is the fifth cyclone to reach this intensity so far this year (winds of 252 kmph or more). On average, only five Category 5 storms form in a year, meaning 2023 is already a year of these powerful storms, with almost all of the Atlantic and Pacific hurricane and hurricane seasons yet to come.
Mawar will move west-northwestward from Guam, moving toward the northern Philippines and Taiwan, and is not expected to threaten land in the next few days. Additional strengthening is possible over the next 12 to 24 hours, then expected to slowly weaken.
