‘All clear’ expected as Nangka moves away

As Typhoon Nangka moves away from the CNMI, an “all clear” is expected on Saipan, Tinian, and Rota today.

“We should be okay late last night or early morning,” said Homeland Security and Emergency Management deputy special assistant Gerald Deleon Guerrero.

Nangka was earlier expected to go nearest to Saipan but changed direction and was tracked closer to Alamagan instead.

Tourists brave strong winds and rain brought by Typhoon Nangka as they walk back to their hotel after shopping in Garapan yesterday afternoon. Tourists’ shopping was severely affected as stores refused to accept credit cards due to Internet problems. (Ferdie de la Torre)

Yesterday, Nangka’s eye was located at 50 miles southeast of Alamagan or 155 miles north northeast of Saipan, according to the 2pm weather bulletin update. It was moving west-northwest at 12 miles per hour.

Nangka’s maximum sustained winds were at 145 miles per hour. Typhoon force winds extend outward up to 50 miles from the center and tropical storm force winds extend outward to 140 miles.

Typhoon Condition 1 was maintained until last night by acting governor Ralph DLG Torres for the islands of Saipan, Tinian, Alamagan, Pagan, and Agrihan.

No communication

According to public information specialist L.J. Castro, they were not yet able to contact anyone from the Northern Islands since yesterday.

“We have been trying our best to get updates,” Castro said, “Right now we haven’t heard anything.”
“There are certain outposts there where they can seek shelter,” he added.

“They know what to do. They’ve experienced other stronger storms,” Deleon Guerrero said.

According to Deleon Guerrero, 11 residents are in Pagan, two in Alamagan, and seven in Agrihan.

Shelters update

Acting press secretary Matt Deleon Guerrero said 157 individuals on Saipan sought refuge and were still in shelters as of last night. Shelters were opened Wednesday.

Castro said Koblerville Elementary School was maxed out with about 46 individuals staying there.

Other shelters were Tanapag Middle School, Garapan Elementary School, Kagman High School, and instead of Dandan Middle School, San Vicente Elementary School was opened.

On Tinian, at least two individuals sought shelter in Tinian Elementary School.

No shelters were opened for Rota but Matt Deleon Guerrero said they don’t have any communication with Rota as well.

Water outages, no major power interruption

Castro said no major interruptions in power as well as infrastructure damages were reported.

However, water outages were experienced in many areas such as Susupe, San Jose, Dandan, San Vicente, San Antonio, Gualo Rai, and Koblerville, according to Castro.

As of 8pm, Matt Deleon Guerrero said the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. fixed the water problem except for Chinatown, which had trouble with its reservoir.

Govt closed for 2nd straight day

Matt Deleon Guerrero, meanwhile, said acting governor Ralph DLG Torres decided to shut down all non-essential government offices for a second straight today.

Torres earlier issued an advisory for non-essential government offices to close yesterday.

As of last night, that advisory is still in effect, according to L.J. Castro, public information specialist.

“We do not have an ‘all clear’ yet so the advisory remains,” Castro said.

Non-essential government offices were closed yesterday due to Typhoon Nangka.

Essential services including the Homeland Security Emergency and Management, Department of Public Safety, Department of Fire and Emergency Services, among others, are operational.

On Wednesday, offices on Capital Hill, including the Governor’s Office and the Legislature started shutting down as early as 4pm after the advisory was handed down.