National Weather Service forecasters said that Typhoon Mawar brought winds of at least 105 mph to northern sections of Guam on Wednesday.
The typhoon knocked out power to much of the U.S. territory. The islands power authority said only 1,000 of its 52,000 customers had electricity by late Wednesday.
On Tuesday, forecasters predicted that Mawars eye would go directly over Guam as a Category 5 typhoon. By Wednesday, the typhoons eye jogged just to the north of the island.
The storm also weakened slightly, packing top winds of 140 mph near its eye on Wednesday.
The slight northward trend did bring stronger typhoon conditions to Rota, the southernmost island of the Northern Mariana Islands. The National Weather Service said Category 1 conditions knocked out power to the island.
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Other parts of the Northern Mariana Islands were dealing with heavy rains and strong winds.
The National Weather Service encouraged Guam residents to continue to shelter into early Thursday as Mawar drifts away from the island.
Earlier this week, President Joe Biden issued an emergency declaration in response to the forecast, freeing up federal resources for the island of nearly 153,000 residents.
Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero also signed an executive order to evacuate low-lying coastal areas and open shelters.
I will be making an assessment of the island as soon as it is safe for me to go outside, she said, adding that residents should stay home until she makes an assessment. Stay calm, stay informed and stay safe. We will get through this storm as we have in many, many other storms.
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