No major damage on Rota

Tropical Storm Halong toppled some trees on Rota and caused 16 people to take shelter at the Aging Center in Sinapalo yesterday, but there were no reports of injuries or major damage.

On Saipan and Tinian, Halong was hardly felt; it was mostly sunny all day, with only scattered rain showers.

Albert Lizama casts his net in the waters off San Antonio Beach Park yesterday, taking advantage of the rough waters brought by Tropical Storm Halong to catch plenty of tiao and salmonete, among other things. While Halong didn’t directly hit Rota, as well as Saipan and Tinian, it nevertheless shut down most government offices for most of the day in anticipation of its earlier forecasted movement. (Haidee V. Eugenio)

As of 8pm last night, the typhoon warning was cancelled for Rota and tropical storm warning was also cancelled for Guam as Halong moved away from the Marianas, according to the U.S. National Weather Service in Guam.

Earlier in the day, Gov. Eloy Inos ordered the closure of all non-essential government operations in the CNMI due to the anticipated threat of the storm.

At 1pm, when the center of Halong was closest at 20 miles west of Rota, packing maximum sustained winds of 65 miles per hour and moving west-northwest, Inos maintained typhoon condition 1 for the island. At 2pm, the governor declared an all-clear condition for Saipan and Tinian.

In a phone interview with Saipan Tribune at 3:40pm, Rota Mayor Melchor Mendiola said the island felt the storm between 12pm to 1pm when the wind was about 50 miles an hour.

“We still have strong winds of 25 to 30 miles an hour and some scattered rains. We’re still exercising precautionary measures,” Mendiola said.

The mayor said the wind was already decreasing, but they were still waiting for an official declaration of the all-clear condition.

Mendiola said there were some fallen trees and fallen power lines, but no power pole was toppled.

Although the storm caused technical problems with some power transformers, he said the island still has power and water supply.

The mayor said they expect the major damage to be in the area of agriculture because of the strong wind.

“For structure damage, we have not heard yet. Hopefully there’s nothing major,” he said.

Mendiola said they will doing an assessment today to check for washed out roads that would need to be repaired and the typhoon’s effect on the shoreline.

He said that 16 people went to the shelter at the Aging Center in Sinapalo as their own homes are not made of concrete.

Rota has about 2,500 residents.

All United Airlines flights scheduled to depart from and arrive at Guam International Airport yesterday were cancelled due to Halong. That included all flights to Saipan and Rota and from Saipan to Guam.

CNMI Supreme Court Chief Justice Alexandro C. Castro and Superior Court Presiding Judge Robert C. Naraja ordered limited hours of operation for essential services at all local courts yesterday. They closed the administrative services unit (cashier), information systems unit, building and maintenance unit, office of the Commonwealth Recorder, Law Revision Commission, and Judiciary Administrative Office.

The Saipan office of U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Services was also closed yesterday due to Halong. All appointments for interviews and information were cancelled. In a statement, USCIS said it will automatically reschedule appointments for immigration and citizenship interviews, and applicants will receive a new appointment letter from USCIS in the mail. Those who have InfoPass appointments for Wednesday should go online to www.uscis.gov and reschedule.

The USCIS Office in Guam was also closed yesterday, as well as the Guam Judiciary.

As of 7pm last night, the center of Tropical Storm Halong was located by radar about 80 miles west of Rota, about 120 miles west-southwest of Tinian, and about 130 miles west-southwest of Saipan, according to the CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management. Halong is moving toward the west-northwest at 10 mph and is expected to continue to the west-northwest with little change in forward speed through Thursday.

Maximum sustained winds remain at 65 mph. Tropical storm force winds extend outward up to 125 miles from the center in the south semi-circle and up to 90 miles from the center in the north semi-circle. Halong is expected to resume a slow intensification on Thursday.

Residents of Saipan, Tinian, and Rota are being urged to continue to take extra precautionary measures when driving on the highways due to heavy rains showers and possible flooding in low lying areas.