Super Typhoon Champi passes just south of Guam; about half the island without power

Super Typhoon Champi passed about 10 miles (16km) south of Merizo, on Guam’s southern tip, at about 4.26am local time on Sunday 18 October (5.26am AEDT), Guam’s Joint Information Center (JIC) said.

The Guam Power Authority said about 75% of the island still had power at 5.30am, but that this fell to about 50% by 7.50am as feeders in central and northern Guam tripped offline, the JIC said. Hospital, naval base, air base and Tumon hotel feeders stayed on. The authority told KUAM there was no islandwide blackout. The National Weather Service (NWS) upgraded Champi to a super typhoon early on Sunday, with maximum sustained winds of 150mph (about 240km/h).

NWS science officer Brandon Aydlett said the storm’s speed limited how long Guam faced severe conditions. “We were definitely spared the worst,” he told the Pacific Daily News.

In its 10am update (11am AEDT), the JIC said President Donald Trump had approved Governor Lou Leon Guerrero’s request for an emergency declaration. Guam remained at Condition of Readiness 1, and residents were told to stay inside concrete buildings. The Guam Waterworks Authority said 72 of its 98 operating wells were on generator power.

The Guam Department of Education said public schools would close on Monday so staff could check for damage.

As of 2pm AEDT, the official updates reviewed for this story had not reported any deaths or injuries.