Longterm recovery for Tinian begins

San Nicolas

With water already restored to all of Tinian, Tinian Mayor Joey Patrick San Nicolas reports that his office has already started the long-term recovery effort to restore the island.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. says in its latest report that water production is now at 100 percent on Tinian.

Separately, San Nicolas noted in his Week 2 status update that gas is almost fully restored to the island and that public services have started to stabilize.

“…We are slowly transitioning from immediate relief toward long-term community restoration,” he said, as he announced shuttle services have been discontinued and public portable toilets have been pulled back.

Food and water distribution continues at the Tinian Gymnasium, including the distribution of hot meals, humanitarian daily rations, and bottled water for residents. The American Red Cross offers hot meals for lunch and dinner, which are supplemented by humanitarian daily rations supplied by the Federal Emergency Management Agency.

Potable water is available at the Jones Beach reverse osmosis system from 8am to 5pm and the Maui Well Pump Station from 2pm to 5pm.

While the distributions for basic needs continue, San Nicolas noted that his office has begun debris cleanup.

“Using municipal resources, our teams will dispose of lumber, tin, and green waste for residents who have properly sorted and placed their waste along public easements. Debris removal instructions are available to the public via the Tinian Mayor’s Office Facebook page and the weekly Gasetan Taotao Tinian: Recovery Edition,” said San Nicolas.

To address shelter concerns, San Nicolas noted that over 80 tents have been erected for Tinian resident’s temporary shelters.

The tents were erected through the CNMI Tenting Program—a collaboration among the CNMI government, the American Red Cross, and the U.S. Department of Defense.

“Week 2 post-typhoon showed a steady stream of activity built on the momentum from our immediate response to Super Typhoon Yutu. We aim to continue this trend in the coming weeks as we transition into the long-term restoration of our infrastructure, our homes, and our community,” said San Nicolas.

Tinian power feeders remain offline as of Nov. 6, 2018, but power is online at the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. Tinian facility from 6am to 6pm.

San Nicolas noted that a CUC partial power assessment reports damage to 797 power poles, 105 transformers, and 507,015 linear feet of conductors. CUC executive director Gary Camacho and a representative from Primary Source Electric visited San Nicolas’ office last Wednesday.

Only one gas station remains open on Tinian, the Tinian Fuel Services. San Nicolas noted that with the efforts of Tinian municipal vice chair Phillip Mendiola-Long, Mobil Oil Marianas would be offering a discounted price of $5.20 per gallon as opposed to the regular $5.70 per gallon for unleaded fuel.

Tinian businesses, according to San Nicolas, have already started to resume regular operations toward the end of the week, including supermarkets, transportation services, and shipping companies. Hotel rooms and laundromats, San Nicolas said, are slowly coming back online while local restaurants operate on a limited basis.

Both Bank of Guam and Bank of Saipan are operating on their regular schedules, he noted.