Nabi’s wrath spares NMI

Tropical storm Nabi intensified into a typhoon and slammed into the CNMI around noon yesterday with 105mph winds but preliminary reports indicate that Saipan escaped widespread destruction, besides some fallen trees, a few damaged homes, and an islandwide power blackout.

At least 564 people took refuge at emergency shelters. Inter-island and international flights were cancelled, stranding hundreds of passengers.

Weather forecasters expect Nabi to further intensify to near-supertyphoon-strength. As of press time, the Emergency Management Office said damage assessment is still being conducted, but it said that there were reports of damaged homes in Dandan.

The typhoon condition declaration for the Northern Marianas has yet to be lifted.

As of 2pm, the number of evacuees hovered around 600, most of them in nine designated emergency shelters on Saipan. The EMO said that 132 residents went to the Chacha Junior High School, transferring from Kagman Community Center; 69 at the Koblerville Elementary School; William S. Reyes Elementary School, 66; Garapan Elementary School, 51; Tanapag Elementary School, 36; and Dandan Elementary School, 20.

The EMO also said 33 people were evacuated to the Rota Aging Center, while five others took refuge at the Tinian Elementary School.

Sixty-year-old Rolando Lagartos and seven other family members left their Chinatown home yesterday midnight, braving strong winds and rain to temporary relocate to the GES for safety. Lagartos said he feared that eroded rocks would damage his tin house, which stands on a hill.

“It was too dangerous because there were several trees and rocks that were falling on our place,” Lagartos said.

Although he and his family had to bear with lighted candles in one of the classrooms at the GES, he said the situation at the shelter was better for their safety.

Fifty-six-year-old Carlos Topulei and his family of 10 decided to vacate their Garapan tin house for the nearby shelter Tuesday night due to flooding. He brought along with him four grandchildren, including 7-year-old Trisha, whose smiles seemed to indicate that she thought it was an adventure.

Heavy rainfall associated with the typhoon caused flooding in various villages on Saipan, including the intersection of As Lito and Chalan Monsignor Guerrero in Dandan and portions of Beach Road in Garapan. Fallen trees and political campaign boards blockaded roads such as Chalan Kiya Drive and Airport Road. Poor visibility rendered driving dangerous. The Department of Public Safety and the EMO reported no major road accidents as of press time.

The bad weather also forced the closure of many establishments—both private and public—including gas stations, which refused some motorists who wanted to gas up.

EMO spokesman Ben Cepeda said a dialysis patient who initially took refuge at the Kagman Community Center was brought to the Commonwealth Health Center for treatment.

While the hospital’s clinics were closed, Cepeda said the emergency room remained open for those who needed urgent medical attention. The EMO also advised women who are at least 7 months pregnant to seek refuge at the CHC, since pressure associated with the weather condition could induce early contraction. The EMO reported no emergency cases as of press time.

The EMO said the typhoon cut off power and water on Saipan and Rota. Cepeda said, though, that the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. on Rota had already restored the water supply and 90 percent of the island’s power.

Nabi intensified into a typhoon around 10pm Tuesday, packing maximum sustained winds of 75mph and heading west at 14mph. Nabi’s eye came as close as 35 miles north-northeast of Saipan at 12 noon yesterday, wielding 85mph winds. Nabi’s westerly movement at only10mph allowed it to gain further strength while it continued to batter the three major islands.

By 2pm, the typhoon had intensified to 105mph, with Nabi’s eye remaining close to Saipan at 70 miles north of the island. The typhoon maintained its forward velocity but tilted slightly to the west-northwest.

The typhoon also generated swells and worsened hazardous surf to 15-18 feet. The National Weather Service on Guam estimated rainfall to reach up to 12 inches.

As of 6:30pm, Gov. Juan N. Babauta has maintained typhoon condition 1 for Saipan, Tinian and Rota, while maintaining typhoon condition 2 for the islands of Agrihan, Pagan, and Alamagan.

‘No major damage so far’

Governor’s press secretary Peter A. Callaghan, who was stationed at the Emergency Management Office yesterday, said the assessment on the overall typhoon damage is still ongoing.

“There’s none [major damage] that I’m aware of. But it’s too soon to say because we’re still in the middle of this thing,” said Callaghan in an interview at about 3:30pm.

He said that it was not safe yet for people to go out until past 4pm.

Typhoon Nabi was estimated to have made its closest approach to Saipan at 2pm. This means that two hours on either side of the point of approach were most dangerous, Callaghan said, citing advice from weather experts.

Lt. Gov. Diego T. Benavente said that typhoon winds in the morning affected mostly the north side of the island, or the Tanapag area.

The whole island, particularly the north side, including the Capitol Hill area, experienced heavy fog during the day.

Benavente said the top concern now is the displaced families who are currently housed in public schools.

“We hope that there’s not much damage [to] their houses so they could easily move back. One of our worries was we may have a lot people in schools,” he said, noting that any delay in the transfer of people would also delay the resumption of classes.

Islandwide power outage

The strong winds brought by Typhoon Nabi also forced an islandwide power outage on Saipan beginning yesterday morning.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corp. shut the power off at 9:07am Wednesday in anticipation of poles being knocked down and other electrical equipment blowing off as a result of the typhoon’s onslaught.

The lights were still out all over the island as of 4pm.

Power generation manager Almondo Santos said the power outage was necessary to ensure the safety of utility line crewmembers in the field and the public as well.

He added that CUC personnel were on standby at the power plant and ready to turn the power back on as soon as the typhoon cleared up. “We’re ready to start the generators as soon as we make sure everything is safe,” he said.

Santos also reported that the intense typhoon winds and fierce rain took its toll on the repair and maintenance being done at Power Plant 1 in Lower Base.

Although most of the work has been stopped, Santos assured the public that CUC would try to make good on its promise to complete the repair of Engine No. 8 by the promised deadline.

“There is still some maintenance going on. We’re still going to try to end load shedding by Sept. 6, as promised,” Santos said.

Despite a four-day delay, CUC finally received the chockfast material needed for the engine repair on Tuesday, he said. The material was shipped from Singapore.

The repair of Engine No. 8 is seen as a solution to load shedding, which CUC has been doing due to a power generation problem. Since July 28, 2005, affected Saipan villages have been experiencing at least two hours of power outages a day.

CUC currently generates only 60 megawatts of power a day. This is 8 megawatts short of the demand during peak hours. If brought back to service, Engine No. 8 will provide an additional capacity of 10.5 megawatts to CUC and enable it to handle the community’s demand for electricity.

(Reporters Liberty Dones, Agnes Donato and Marconi Calindas contributed to this report.)