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Food, water supply to be shipped to Northern Islands today
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Posted on Sep 06 2004
Relief for residents of Agrihan and Alamagan would arrive soon, with the Emergency Management Office scheduled to ship food and water supplies to those islands early morning today.
The M/V Tenshou II—loaded with food, water, tents, tarps, cots, blankets and other relief items—would leave Saipan about 6am today, EMO director Rudolfo Pua said yesterday.
The boat detoured back to Saipan, where it arrived about 11pm Sunday night due to tropical storm Sarika that approached the Northern Islands.
The EMO had planned on sending relief items to Agrihan and Alamagan to avert looming food and water supply shortages after Supertyphoon Songda severely battered the two islands and Pagan.
Gov. Juan N. Babauta cleared the three northern islands yesterday morning from his storm condition declaration, as Sarika moved away from the islands.
As of 7am yesterday, Sarika brandished 70mph-strong winds as it moved westerly at 17mph. At this time, the National Weather Service located the storm’s center at about 140 miles west-northwest of Agrihan, 165 miles west-northwest of Pagan, and 185 miles northwest of Alamagan. The governor declared an “all clear’ condition for these islands over an hour later.
Pua said the governor would travel to those islands sometime this week to personally assess the damage brought on by supertyphoon Songda and storm Sarika.
Pua said the EMO has yet to receive any report from the Northern Islands after Sarika passed by. Earlier, though, Songda reportedly hit the three northern islands badly, totally destroying their crops.
Songda also totally destroyed two houses and blew away roofs of two other houses on Alamagan and Agrihan. The supertyphoon also destroyed two houses and damaged a boat on Pagan.
Recent reports said that some 36 people reside in the three northern islands—13 on Agrihan, 12 on Alamagan, and 11 on Pagan. The residents reportedly took refuge on underground shelters as Songda approached the islands.
