UPDATE (April 17): Latest reports include damage to the airport and hotels. A U.S. C-130 landed with FEMA assets to survey the damage.
UPDATE (April 17): Developing story from the Marianas Press. The U.S. Federal government did declare a disaster declaration for the U.S. territory and commonwealth with FEMA assets on the way (there are still dedicated civil servants who were not purged that are doing their job).
UPDATE (April 16): Officials say some areas of the Northern Mariana’s may be without power and water for several weeks.
Two small islands (U.S. territories) in the Northern Mariana Islands (Saipan and Tinian) were slammed for hours by a slow moving super typhoon on April 15th local time. Both islands took a direct hit as the eye and inner core traversed slowly over both islands (at some points, the system nearly stalled). Guam (further south) was spared a direct hit but still received strong winds and heavy rain from the outer bands of the system.
The super typhoon battered Saipan with heavy rains, near constant category 4 strength winds (up to 130mph/209kmh) and storm surge, overturning cars, uprooting trees, ripping metal roofs from their fasteners, and leaving most roads unpassable from debris and downed power lines. Much of the island has been left without power (43,000 people). The Northern Mariana Islands is home to around 50,000 people (Saipan is the largest of those islands). No fatalities or injuries have been reported.
