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Saipan shelters full; more open
Several shelters of the Public School System that were initially opened as Super Typhoon Yutu approached the CNMI yesterday were immediately filled with evacuees, resulting in the opening of others.
In an announcement last Tuesday, PSS said it opened the Marianas High School, Koblerville Elementary School, Kagman High School, Tanapag Middle School, and Dandan Middle School to evacuees.
As of 3pm yesterday, MHS, KHS, and KES were full. The shelters could accommodate 100, 80, and 46 shelterees respectively, according to acting interim PSS commissioner Lynette Villagomez.
Additional schools for shelter were then opened. The San Vicente Elementary School and the Chacha Oceanview Middle School were immediately filled as of 3pm yesterday
The remaining shelters that have available slots include Dandan Middle School, San Vicente Elementary School, and the Tanapag Middle School for Saipan, while Rota and Tinian residents still had the Dr. Rita Hocog Inos Jr. Sr. High School and the Tinian Elementary School, respectively, as of 3:45pm yesterday.
The Kagman Community Center, Koblerville Youth Center, and the San Antonio Youth Center were also opened for shelter as of 3:30pm and, according to the Commonwealth Office on Transit Authority, the Saipan Aging Office under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs is also full.
As of 3:45pm yesterday, COTA announced that the New Hope Center in Marpi is also available for shelter.
If you are in need of assistance, call COTA at 237-8000 for transportation to designated shelters on Saipan.
Typhoon Yutu was upgraded to Super Typhoon Yutu yesterday afternoon at 2pm, after it attained maximum sustained winds of 150 mph (241 kph).
Shelterees at Marianas High School talk among themselves to pass the time.
ERWIN ENCINARES
Yutu is projected to continue intensifying into a Category 5 typhoon.
