By Bryan Manabat
[email protected]
Variety News Staff
THE American Red Cross has provided more than $1.5 million in immediate financial assistance to households whose homes were severely damaged or destroyed by Super Typhoon Sinlaku, according to regional officials overseeing the response.
The assistance, provided between the program’s launch on May 11 and the June 1 registration deadline, supported nearly 2,400 households across the CNMI and Guam. That included about 1,900 households in Saipan, 330 in Tinian, and 160 in Guam, reaching an estimated 7,400 individuals.
Shannon Carley, regional communications director for the American Red Cross Pacific Islands Region, said the financial assistance was intended to help meet the immediate needs of families whose primary residences sustained major structural damage or were destroyed.
“To qualify, households had to show their pre-disaster primary residence was in a confirmed disaster-impacted area, that the home sustained major damage or was destroyed, and that the resident could provide proof of identity and residence,” Carley said.
The Red Cross and its partners also provided nearly 19,800 overnight stays in 29 emergency shelters during the height of the disaster, supporting families displaced by the storm’s widespread destruction.
Carley said the Sinlaku response required flexibility from disaster teams as they navigated damaged infrastructure, communication challenges, and the scale of need across multiple islands.
“Each disaster response comes with its own challenges, but we train our responders to be flexible and to effectively deliver aid no matter what challenge presents itself,” she said.
Local partnerships also played a critical role in the response. Alongside more than 630 trained disaster responders deployed from across the United States, dozens of CNMI teenagers volunteered through the Red Cross’ event-based volunteer program, assisting with shelter operations, supply distribution, and community outreach.
Although deployed Red Cross personnel were scheduled to depart the islands on June 25, Carley emphasized that local Red Cross chapters in the Pacific Islands Region will continue supporting individuals throughout the recovery phase.
Residents who wish to support ongoing Red Cross disaster operations, including the Sinlaku response, may make financial donations at RedCross.org/.
Funded mainly through donations, grants, and volunteer support, the American Red Cross is a non-governmental humanitarian organization that provides emergency assistance, disaster relief, and disaster preparedness education across the United States and internationally.
Bryan Manabat was a liberal arts student of Northern Marianas College where he also studied criminal justice. He is the recipient of the NMI Humanities Award as an Outstanding Teacher (Non-Classroom) in 2013, and has worked for the CNMI Motheread/Fatheread Literacy Program as lead facilitator.
