A total of 107 homes have been returned to Super Typhoon Yutu survivors, Federal Emergency Management Agency Recovery Office director Sheryl Cochran said on Monday.
Of these 107 homes, 20 are newly constructed on Saipan, 80 were reconstructed on Saipan, and seven were reconstructed on Tinian.
A newly constructed home on Tinian is anticipated to be completed this summer.
As of Monday, 59 additional homes were being constructed, Cochran added.
She said the housing program for the Yutu survivors on Saipan and Tinian is anticipated to be completed towards the end of next year.
However, she added, “We shy away from dates because anything can happen in construction. A little too much rain or poor weather [causes] lots of complications. But we anticipate that homes will be delivered sometime early summer or early to mid-summer. We’re almost halfway with the construction.”
She said FEMA has obligated a total of $279 million to the CNMI for public assistance and infrastructure projects for Super Typhoon Yutu recovery. Of this amount, more than $260 million is for individual assistance.
Cochran commended Gov. Ralph DLG Torres, Lt. Gov. Arnold I. Palacios, Secretary of Finance David DLG Atalig, the governor’s authorized representative for the Super Typhoon Yutu disaster response, Virginia Villagomez, and their team for helping make this recovery possible.
In September of last year, FEMA turned over the first newly constructed post-Yutu home to a 66-year-old local resident in Koblerville.
The home was compliant with the Americans with Disabilities Act — it was wheelchair-accessible, had guardrails in the bathroom, and strobe smoke detectors for the hearing-impaired.
In the Commonwealth, over 180 eligible households have been chosen to participate in the program, with homes being either one-, two-, or three-bedroom, fully concrete complete with a water catchment system, typhoon shutters, generator hookup, indoor kitchens with connections to expand outdoors, and over a mile and a half of rebar.
These homes are built to the 2018 International Building Code, or IBC, Standards for wind resistance — up to 195 miles per hour — and all applicable federal, state, and local building codes.
Governor Torres requested the program, which FEMA approved and funded.
Applications are approved on a case-by-case basis.
