A year of typhoons that laid the NMI low

The Northern Marianas suffered nature’s fury on Aug. 22 when supertyphoon Chaba howled through the islands with up to 180-mph winds that felled trees and power poles, destroyed and damaged more than 2,000 houses, and forced over a thousand residents to flee to evacuation shelters.

Chaba hit the islands less than two months after typhoon Tingting brought record-breaking rainfall on Saipan, which caused massive flooding and the Susupe Lake to overflow.

Chaba’s eye went as close as 25 miles northeast of Rota, wielding 120-mph winds gusting to 150 mph. With Chaba’s diameter extending to about 50 miles, Emergency Management Office director Rudolfo Pua said Rota suffered worst from the typhoon’s battering, as the typhoon stayed close to the island for several hours.

Rota Mayor Benjamin Manglona declared the island a local disaster area immediately that night, requesting Gov. Juan N. Babauta to identify local funding to assist the island in relief efforts.

On Saipan, 145-mph winds came as close as 50 miles southwest of the island.

The governor quickly declared a state of emergency in the Commonwealth even before Chaba left the islands and asked President Bush to expeditiously declare the CNMI a major disaster area, saying the destructions caused by the supertyphoon were so severe that local resources would not be enough to support recovery efforts.

The governor also asked the Federal Emergency Management Agency for a Joint Federal/State Rapid Needs Assessment on damages caused by the typhoon. Estimates placed damage at over $18 million.

The FEMA responded quickly, assisting local emergency response efforts even before President Bush declared the Commonwealth a disaster area. It was days before Bush made the declaration, making available individual and public assistance.

Thousands of residents benefited from federal assistance in the form of FEMA grants and Small Business Administration loans, which reached over $12.83 million. FEMA approved over 2,450 disaster housing assistance grants amounting to more than $7.29 million.

FEMA also approved some 3,343 grants for other needs, which cover medical, dental, property, transportation and other expenses. Those grants totaled more than $3.41 million. The SBA, meanwhile, issued hundreds of loans totaling over $2.12 million.

Close to 19,000 household members received food assistance from the Nutrition Assistance Program under the Department of Community and Cultural Affairs. The government gave out emergency food aid, which totaled nearly $1 million, even to alien workers.

Before the onslaught of Chaba, typhoon Tingting made direct landfall on the islands on June 28, downing trees, wiping out agricultural crops, damaging public facilities, and causing massive flooding. Babauta also declared a state of emergency in the CNMI.

Many road washout and water damage to facilities were caused by wind-driven rain and enormous rainfall that measured 8.4 inches during this period, Babauta told FEMA.

More than 200 houses on the islands were either damaged or destroyed when typhoon Tingting’s strong winds and record-breaking rainfall battered the Northern Marianas. Heavy rainfall during and after the onslaught of Tingting also caused the Susupe Lake to overflow.