In anticipation of strong typhoon winds, Saipan Computer Services, like other business establishments on island, has installed shutters on its building.
WITH Typhoon Mawar headed to the Marianas, Variety spoke with some of Saipan’s workers Tuesday morning to see how they had been preparing for the storm.
“Even if we’re prepared, we’re still scared,” said Thelma Dacumos.
She lives behind the bakery in Susupe where she works, and her home is a semi-concrete structure. The walls are concrete, but the roof is tin and wood. She said her windows are boarded up with plywood that she has had since Typhoon Yutu battered Saipan and Tinian in Oct. 2018.
Her coworker is Adelaida “Laidy” Ignacio, who is also Dacumos’ neighbor.
“The one thing I’m afraid of —there’s a big tree,” Ignacio said, referring to a nearby tree on government property that could fall on her concrete home.
She was also worried about the debris that could fly onto the property. Like Dacumos, Ignacio has boarded her windows with plywood.
When Variety spoke to Peter Deleon Guerrero, he was working at the typhoon shelter at Marianas High School.
Deleon Guerrero said his home has typhoon shutters and is ready for the storm.
“Preparedness for this [storm] is really important regardless of the kind of shelter you’re in,” Delon Guerrero said.
He said near his home in Dandan, he’s seen tin structures that have plywood on all their windows.
Deleon Guerrero has also purchased water, food, and other resources ahead of the typhoon, which, according to the National Weather Service, could reach wind speeds of 140 miles per hour.
At the shelter he was working at, Variety witnessed that there were less than 20 people utilizing its facility.
Commissioner of Education Dr. Alfred Ada, for his part, said Marianas High School can safely accommodate 100 people.
Meiji Mata and her pump attendant, who declined to be identified, said they finally had a chance to take a break after four days of customers coming to the gas station where they both work.
“It was busy,” said the pump attendant.
Mata said from Friday to Monday, customers were filling up their cars and gas containers.
Mata is a full-time employee whose partner is also a full-time employee. They have one child who is five, and so no one is available to board their home. But in any case, Mata said weather forecasts showed that the storm was moving toward Guam. She was hopeful that Saipan would be spared from disaster.
At a press conference on Monday, CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management Special Assistant Franklin Babauta said Saipan and Tinian “are still within the bubble of wind strength” of Typhoon Mawar.
The pump attendant, for his part, said he was fortunate to have family members — specifically nephews — who were able to shutter his house while he was at work.
Nancy Oscar was another person who is relying on family as the storm approaches.
She lives in a concrete structure boarded with plywood.
“I just started working so I’m not really at the house,” said Oscar, a cashier at a tourist shop in Garapan. Her adult siblings were bringing their children to the home that Oscar shares with her parents. All in all, there would be 16 family members under one roof to assist in case something bad were to happen with Oscar’s parents, who are in their 50s.
Oscar said her parents seemed to be worried about the storm, but the tourists weren’t. When Variety visited, there were about 20 inside the store shopping.
“They look like they’re enjoying the weather,” Oscar said, referring to the tourists. “They have smiles on their faces.”
Oscar said the night shift from before she clocked in was busy with tourists as well.
At 10 p.m. Tuesday, the National Weather Service said the center of Super Typhoon Mawar was located near latitude 12.2 degrees north and longitude 146.0 degrees east or about 120 miles southeast of Guam; about 145 miles south-southeast of Rota; about 195 miles south of Tinian; and about 200 miles south of Saipan. Mawar was moving northwest at 7 mph with maximum sustained winds at 155 mph.
For the latest typhoon updates and advisories, go to www.mvariety.com or Variety’s Facebook page.
Laidy Ignacio points toward her home in Susupe on Tuesday. She’s worried that winds could knock debris from a tree onto her house.
Nancy Oscar at work at I Love Saipan in Garapan on Tuesday.
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. crewmembers check the power lines on Middle Road in Garapan, Tuesday.
