Super Typhoon Bavi is pounding American soil in the Pacific with 180 mph winds, and the Americans living on Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands are largely on their own — still picking up the pieces from the last super typhoon that hit just months ago.

These are U.S. citizens on U.S. territory, hunkering down under extreme wind warnings that promise death for anyone who steps outside. Meanwhile, Washington's attention and checkbook remain fixed on NATO commitments, foreign military aid, and securing other people's borders. The question isn't whether a Category 5 storm is dangerous. It's whether the federal government treats its own territories with even a fraction of the urgency it reserves for foreign causes.

Bavi made landfall over Rota early Monday local time, according to the National Weather Service, bringing what meteorologist Edwin Montvila called "catastrophic wind" to the island of fewer than 2,000 people. The cyclone is forecast as a Category 5 super typhoon with sustained winds up to 180 mph and gusts reaching 215 mph. Typhoon warnings also cover Guam, Tinian, and Saipan. Tropical storm warnings and watches extend to other islands in the area.

Bavi poses an "imminent danger to life," Montvila said. The weather service told residents to move to interior rooms and stay away from windows. "Entering outside can result in death from flying projectiles. Utility poles and associated power lines will be down," Montvila said. "All those would pose a risk to life, so we recommend people to not venture out and hunker down."

This is the second super typhoon to hammer the region this year. Super Typhoon Sinlaku, the strongest tropical cyclone of the year, battered these same islands in April. The Chicago Tribune noted Bavi was "approaching" the Marianas; the Baltimore Sun reported it had already made landfall — a small but telling difference in how quickly national outlets track a story about Americans in the Pacific.

Guam Gov. Lou Leon Guerrero urged residents to stay home or at shelters. "Here we are experiencing another severe force of winds on our island, but as we know, we are always ready and prepared in our planning and our protection of our people," she said in a video posted Sunday.

Not everyone shares the alarm. The Rev. Francis Hezel, a priest at Santa Barbara Catholic Church in Dededo, Guam, told the Baltimore Sun that most residents live in concrete homes and that Bavi may be "more of a matter of inconvenience than anything else." Hezel said officials should "tone down" their warnings. "By this time, people are used to typhoons," he said. "They know what they have to do to prepare for them."

Bavi was moving at a relatively fast pace, which gave officials hope it would pass quickly, Montvila said. But the storm's size means tropical storm conditions and torrential rains could persist through Monday night. The typhoon was "a bit erratic" overnight, wavering north and south as it headed west.

The islands' concrete construction may blunt the structural damage. Power outages lasting days are the more likely disruption. But here's the open question: when the winds die down and the power lines are down, what does the federal response look like? Washington can find billions for Ukraine, Israel, and every alliance commitment the think-tank class demands. American citizens on Guam and Rota are about to find out what their government thinks they're worth.