For the first time since 1968, a typhoon — Soudelor — slammed into Saipan on Sunday just before midnight, knocking out the island’s power system, uprooting trees and destroying tin-roof homes and establishments.
As of Tuesday, Saipan still had no power. Gasoline stations were rationing their supplies if they still had some left.
Debris was all over the island, and some roads remained blocked by fallen trees or power poles — or both. All hotels, big or small, were fully booked but were already running out of some key supplies.
Some establishments were running on generators but they had to scale down their operations to save on fuel.
Variety was told that it may take weeks — or months — before the Commonwealth Utilities Corp (CUC) can fully restore its system.
Federal agencies, however, were already providing assistance to CUC.
There were no casualties reported so far, but there were injuries. Variety was unable to get an official figure as of Tuesday afternoon.
Acting Governor Ralph Torres has declared a State of Major Disaster and Significant Emergency for the CNMI, specifically for Saipan, Tinian, Rota and the Northern Islands.
He urges everyone to stay indoors and off roadways to allow first responders easy access for emergency cases.
Press Secretary Ivan Blanco said Homeland Security Emergency Management Office is working closely with the Federal Emergency Management Agency and will continue to do so during the recovery and rescue phase as well as for damage assessment.
Blanco said the value of damage to homes, infrastructure and property was not available at the moment.
A total of 355 residents sought shelters, including 16 residents from Tinian.
Most of the residents sought shelter at Garapan Elementary School and Kagman High School because Tanapag Middle School already reached maximum capacity.
The Red Cross' Executive Director John Hirsh says nobody was prepared for Soudelor's impact.
“Everyone is really shell-shocked here. This is really the fourth storm we've had in the last eight weeks. So people have been kind of thinking it was going to be just another small typhoon, it's not going to impact us very heavily. But people were very wrong about that. It really caused just widespread devastation.” he told Radio New Zealand International.