Super Typhoon Sinlaku slammed into the Northern Mariana Islands on Tuesday night local time and kept hammering the U.S. territory through Wednesday, tearing up Saipan with fierce wind, relentless rain and widespread damage. No deaths had been reported by late Wednesday, but power was out across the island and many roads were impassible.
The National Weather Service said Sinlaku had sustained winds of up to 150 mph, or 240 kph, when it made landfall, then still carried 125 mph winds late Wednesday night as it pulled away from Saipan, Tinian and Rota. Saipan, home to about 43,000 people, sits in the largest of the Mariana Islands, and the scale of the storm showed in images from the island that captured residential lots covered in debris, mangled trees and metal bleachers crumpled at a sports field.
Resident Dong Min Lee shot video of a car sitting on top of two others in his apartment building’s parking lot, and said the winds tore off part of his balcony railing. His footage fit the wider damage picture: preliminary reports included flooding, uprooted trees and downed power lines, while Guam was also battered by tropical-force winds. The American Red Cross and its partners were sheltering more than 1,000 residents across Guam and the Northern Marianas.
Sinlaku was described as the strongest tropical cyclone on Earth this year, and forecasters had expected it to curve toward sparsely populated volcanic islands in the far northern Marianas after passing the main population centers. For Saipan, Tinian and Rota, the immediate challenge is recovery: clearing roads, restoring electricity and checking for damage in a place where even a short disruption can leave thousands cut off.