The U.S. Navy ordered the USS Nimitz aircraft carrier strike group to head to the island of Guam to assist in the recovery effort from the Typhoon Mawar, according to reports.
The Nimitz, along with the USS Bunker Hill, a cruiser, and the USS Wayne E. Meyer, a destroyer, were south of Japan headed to Guam, where they were expected to arrive in three or four days, according to a U.S. official who spoke on condition of anonymity to discuss ship movements not yet made public.
Typhoon Mawar churned slowly over the U.S. Pacific territory of Guam on Thursday, lashing the island with wind and rain, tearing down trees, walls and power lines, flipping cars, and pushing a dangerous storm surge ashore as first responders waited for daylight to see the full extent of the damage.
The typhoon, the strongest to hit the U.S. territory of roughly 150,000 people since 2002, briefly made landfall Wednesday night as a Category 4 storm at Andersen Air Force Base on the northern tip of the island, according to National Weather Service meteorologist Patrick Doll.
Ahead of the storm, Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero ordered those living in coastal, low-lying, and flood-prone areas to evacuate to higher ground.
Guerrero said an emergency declaration approved by President Joe Biden will support the mobilization of resources into Guam, which is "especially crucial given our distance from the continental U.S."
Guam is a crucial hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific, and the Department of Defense controls about a third of the island. Rear Adm. Benjamin Nicholson, Joint Region Marianas commander, authorized the evacuation of defense personnel, dependents, and employees from areas that were expected to be affected.
The military said it moved its ships out to sea as a standard precaution. It sent its aircraft off the island or placed them in protective hangars. Any personnel remaining on the island were sheltering in place. About 6,800 U.S. service members are assigned to Guam, according to the Pentagon.
Information from The Associated Press was used throughout this report.