Car dealers unprepared for Soudelor

– Brennan: Anything like this was Typhoon Kim in 1986
– Deets: In 3 decades, first time their showroom was damaged extensively

A power pole lies next to a Nissan showroom, whose glass walls were shattered by typhoon debris. (Ferdie De La Torre)

Like most people and businesses on Saipan, major car dealers were unprepared for Typhoon Soudelor, which damaged over 50 vehicles during the storm’s devastation.

Atkins Kroll vice president/general manager Doug Brennan said they were absolutely not prepared for Typhoon’s Soudelor’s wrath.

About 12 to 18 Toyota cars were damaged, mostly minor, from flying debris, said Brennan in an interview on Monday morning.

“Cuts, scrapes….but that there was one vehicle with the windshield blown out. We got some door glass scratches, dents,” he said.

At the dealership itself, some of the showroom’s glass panels shattered and some roof panels were turned up, Brennan said.

Atkins Kroll vice president/general manager Doug Brennan inspects on Monday morning their dealership office, whose storm shutters were destroyed by powerful winds brought by Typhoon Soudelor. About 12 to 18 Toyota vehicles were damaged by flying debris.
(Ferdie De La Torre)

“There’s damage to some vehicles and a lot of pine trees all over the parking area,” he said.

In preparation for Soudelor, Brennan said they moved all the cars to the back lot to protect them and that they’re lucky they did so because the entire fence line in front of the Marianas Visitors Authority, which is next to their location, was destroyed.

He said they put up storm shutters, but it didn’t work because they got blown down.

“This looks like a direct hit,” Brennan said.

He said he’s been on Saipan for over 40 years and the last time he saw anything like this was in December 1986 when Typhoon Kim battered the island.

He said Typhoon Kim was 197 miles an hour, but Typhoon Soudelor was only supposed to be 100 miles an hour.

“It looks like the eye hit us,” Brennan said.

In a separate interview on Monday, Joeten Motors general manager Matt Deets said altogether there were about 30 to 40 cars damaged, mostly broken window glasses from flying debris.

Deets said damage was pretty extensive at their Nissan showroom, while there were also some damage at the Ford and Honda showrooms.

A Commonwealth Utilities Corp. pole was toppled next to the Nissan showroom, while another CUC pole fell into the roof of the Ford showroom.

Deets said the Nissan showroom has been here for three decades and that it’s only this typhoon that caused that much damage.

“This kind of unexpected,” he said.

There was no information yet on how many cars at Triple J were damaged.