Only 181 remain at shelters

Four weeks after Typhoon Soudelor devastated Saipan, only 181 individuals remain housed at the three remaining shelters on the island.

Ricky Beset, 30, currently stays at the Kagman Community Center with his wife, Kale, 30, and their two children—a 9-month-old baby and a 3-year-old.

Although he has already received assistance, Beset said he and his family chose to stay at the shelter.

“We received assistance from Federal Emergency Management Assistance. They gave us tents and other kits,” Beset said, adding that a FEMA inspector has already checked their home in Tanapag.

However, with two young children, including a baby, the uncertain weather condition, and mosquitoes everywhere they decided to stay at the shelter.

“I decided that’s was best for my family,” he said.

Assistance from FEMA and Department of Community and Cultural Affairs’ Nutrition Assistance Program has helped them out but he is still beset with worries about his family’s future and he misses home.

“It was really bad. Our home is gone. We were there at the time the typhoon hit us and we ran for cover in our bedroom. After that we got transferred to the Tanapag Middle School shelter and then here [KCC],” he said.

According to a DCCA staff at KCC, there are about nine families totaling 41 individuals who remain at the shelter.

The two other shelters that remain open—the Arts Council on Capital Hill and the Office on Aging in Chinatown—still house 39 and 101, respectively, for a total of 181 people.

FEMA assistance

Michael Kern, voluntary agency liaison for FEMA Region 9 Pacific Area Office, said that the numbers he got were 182 from the CNMI Department of Homeland Security. However, DCCA has confirmed that as of late afternoon yesterday, the head count went down to 181.

“Homeland Security went to the shelters and asked shelterees if they needed a place to stay or, if they were provided a tent would they go home. They did provide tents to those families in the shelters,” Kern said.

“They then went out into the community and started collecting referrals from all the non-profit organizations as they encountered disaster survivors if they wanted to stay on their property and if they needed tents. With the Community Emergency Response Team or CERT and supplemented by non-profit volunteers the tents were being distributed,” he added.

Kern noted that American Red Cross-NMI Chapter along with FEMA’s disaster survivor assistance staff members have been going to the shelters to assist families and individuals who remain there.

“They are trying to address these issues and making sure they get referred to agencies for further assistance,” he said.

Red Cross at shelters

Although the shelters are not being provided food, water and power is available.

ARC executive director John Hirsh said that they are providing assistance by sending out ARC staff to talk to those who remain in the shelters.

“We kind of have a small shelter task force and we’re working with FEMA and included our disaster mental health workers and health services workers that would go to the shelter and sit down with a family and interview them,” Hirsh said.

“They talk about what the emergency needs are, why are they still in the shelter, and what kind of support the government and other agencies can give to them to enable them to go back to their homes,” he added.

Hirsh noted that ARC and FEMA are identifying what solutions can be given to those with special requirements like those needing power for their medical needs and health.

“We’re looking at solutions if we can give them a small generator, see if the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. can go to their house and connect them, and case by case because no one wants to be staying in the shelters,” he said.

Initially ARC had a two-week agreement to feed those in the shelters three meals a day. The group already gave out a total of 19,000 meals to those staying in shelters.

“What happened was when Homeland Security and FEMA were here, we asked if we should continue feeding and everyone met and decided that they would stop feeding because NAP was out and FEMA assistance were already being given,” he said.

“What we discovered was that there were 12 families in the shelters that didn’t have NAP assistance and so we delivered a week of groceries to each of these families,” he added.