Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounds remote US islands in the Pacific Ocean with ferocious winds

A super typhoon steadily battered a pair of remote U.S. islands in the Pacific Ocean with ferocious winds and relentless rains, shredding tin roofs and forcing residents to take cover from flying tree limbs.

Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounded the Northern Mariana Islands for hours before daybreak Wednesday, slowing just to inflict more damage across the islands of Tinian and Saipan, home to nearly 50,000 people.

In the village Susupe on Saipan, resident Dong Min Lee said it was still too dangerous to head outside to thoroughly inspect for damage at daybreak Wednesday. From his apartment windows he could see a car sitting on top of two others in his building’s parking lot below. The winds also tore off part of his balcony railing.

“I hope people will take an interest and help. The damage is really huge here,” Lee said in a Facebook message.

The tropical typhoon — the strongest on Earth this year — was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) when it made landfall on the islands, the National Weather Service said.

Tropical force winds and torrential rainfall also led to flash flooding on Guam, a U.S. territory to the south with several U.S. military installations and about 170,000 residents, the weather service said.

“I’m guessing anything that was made of wood and tin did not survive this,” said Glen Hunter, who grew up on Saipan and watched at least three tin roofs fly past his yard.

Hunter, who has weathered numerous typhoons, told The Associated Press this felt like the strongest yet. Rain was seeping into every crevice of his concrete home, he said.

“It was a losing battle because the rain was coming through everywhere,” he said. “Every house is just flooded with water, no matter what type of structure you’re in."

While wind gusts did slow a bit on the Mariana Islands early Wednesday and the storm started tracking to the north, the conditions did not improve right away, the weather service reported.

Ed Propst, a former lawmaker in Saipan who works in the governor’s office, said he heard “banging and clanging through the night.”

“We haven’t heard of any — knock on wood — deaths so far,” he said, attributing that to residents heeding warnings to take shelter if they weren't in a concrete home.

Typhoon slows, increasing risk of widespread damage

The monster storm slowed to a crawl as it approached the islands.

“This is not going to be an easy night for anyone across Tinian or Saipan. This is going to be a loud night,” said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the weather service. Many people “will wake up to a different island,” he said during a Facebook video broadcast.

Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands as well as its capital, known for its resorts, snorkeling and golf.

Mayor Ramon “RB” Jose Blas Camacho said late Tuesday that the heavy rain and wind around Saipan made it tough to reach people needing to be rescued.

“Objects are just flying left and right,” he said.

The worst of the storm hit during darkness and was expected to continue until at least sunrise Wednesday, the weather service said. While it’s expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku was crossing the islands as a Category 4 typhoon.

Still recovering from a 2018 typhoon

In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to shelter in place. The military controls about one-third of the land on Guam, a critical hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific.

Before turning toward the Northern Marianas, the storm left significant damage to the outer islands and atolls of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, Aydlett said from his weather service station on Guam.

Tourism-dependent Saipan — the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific — was still recovering from 2018’s Super Typhoon Yutu when the coronavirus pandemic hit, Hunter said. The economy has yet to rebound, he said.

Yutu destroyed 85% of the Saipan campus of Northern Marianas College, said the school's president, Galvin Deleon Guerrero. The institution secured $100 million in grant funding to rebuild.

“Just as we were finally beginning to recover and rebuild, we get hit with this,” he said. “Climate change is real.”

He said he worries about people still suffering from the post-traumatic stress of Yutu.

“We are an incredibly resilient people,” he said, noting that he’s Chamorro, the Indigenous people of the Mariana Islands. “But just people we’re resilient doesn’t mean that we should be subjected to this on this frequent basis.”

Disaster declaration

President Donald Trump approved emergency disaster declarations ahead of the latest storm for Guam and the Mariana Islands. The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was coordinating support across multiple agencies, dispatching nearly 100 FEMA staff as well as other personnel.

Super typhoons are the equivalent of Category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified over the past 80 years by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam.