Super Typhoon slams into Saipan causing widespread damage

At the end of the 5-day JTWC forecast on Wednesday July 5, Soudelor is expected to continue tracking northwest towards the Japanese Ryukyu Islands, while maintaining Category 4 strength.

Though the storm’s center is still 2,000 kilometers away, it is moving at a speed of 21 kilometers per hour toward northern Taiwan, and the CWB urged the public to be on the alert as the typhoon approaches.

Hundreds of people in the Northern Marianas are in need of shelter, clean water and food as disaster authorities scramble to assess the impact of Typhoon Soudelor. It ripped roofs off homes and damaged the island’s power plant.

The super typhoon’s trail of destruction can be seen in the above video, at what appears to be a resort on Saipan Island – the largest and most-populated of the Northern Marianas Islands.

Meanwhile, NASA’s Global Precipitation Measurement core observatory satellite flew directly over the super typhoon around 7:04 a.m. EDT on Monday.

A map showing the path of Super Typhoon Soudelor.

In Hagatna, on neighbouring Guam, the weather service said winds had increased to 249km/h as Soudelor moved out to sea and would further intensify. The only good news is that this storm is expected to weaken slightly by the time it reaches Taiwan but still be a very strong storm with winds near category four strength.

The cyclone has developed into the world’s most powerful storm of the year with wind gusts up to 220mph (354kph) that have ripped down telegraph poles and flipped over cars.

The name Soudelor comes from the Federated States of Micronesia and is a Pohnpeaian word for a legendary chief or ruler.