Typhoon Bavi was moving west between the Marshall Islands and the Northern Marianas with sustained winds of 259 kilometers per hour with gusts of 314 kph, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center said in its latest update at 7 a.m. Guam time.
"Current forecast tracks continue to indicate a grim outlook for the Marianas," the U.S. National Weather Service warned. "All residents across Guam and the [Northern Mariana Islands] should plan for and anticipate at least tropical storm conditions."
Just months after a major storm hit, cars in Saipan, in the Northern Marianas, queued at petrol stations on Saturday, while residents thronged hardware stores to buy plywood and supermarkets for food, bottled water and other essentials.
The storm was expected to weaken very slightly by the time it arrived on Monday over Guam and the Northern Marianas -- which are still recovering from Super Typhoon Sinlaku in April.
Plans for celebrating the United States' 250th anniversary on Saturday have been quickly overtaken by storm preparations.
