CUC sending vehicles, work and leak detection personnel to Rota
The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. is sending vehicles and work crew to Rota to help in cleaning up of debris and put the power system back in place after Typhoon Mangkhut’s devastation, according to CUC deputy executive director William B. Gilmore.
In an interview Thursday night, Gilmore said there are some leaks in the water system so they are helping Rota identify them by sending CUC’s leak detection crew.
“We offer quite a bit of support to our agency down there,” he said.
Several power poles are down on Rota, but he said does not know the exact number.
Gilmore said he believes that CUC has been installing some concrete poles on Rota, but most are wooden poles.
Gilmore said they also offer support on Tinian but the island does not have much of a problem.
He said there were few downed power poles on Tinian.
On Saipan, Gilmore said no power pole fell down, which he attributed to CUC’s and Federal Emergency Management Agency’s hardening mitigation program.
“It’s the result of the hardening that we’ve been doing and the new concrete poles that we put in place. That helps,” he said, adding that the typhoon wasn’t so strong and did not last long on Saipan.
“That was our luck,” Gilmore said.