“This is one of those things we were concerned about as a possibility. Indeed, it has happened,” Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist at National Weather Service Guam, said during an 8:30 p.m. briefing streamed live on Facebook.

By Pacific Island Times News Staff Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are under a state of emergency following separate declarations by the territorial governors as the islands prepare for Tropical Storm Champi, which is forecast to intensify into a Category 2 or 3 typhoon likely to directly hit Guam. "This could be our biggest typhoon strike since Typhoon Mawar," said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the National Weather Service. "The winds we anticipate for Guam will

Tropical Depression 29W has been upgraded to Tropical Storm Champi, with maximum sustained winds of 40 miles per hour and is expected to continue intensifying into a typhoon before passing through the Marianas.