designated shelters on Saipan have returned home safely, according to the Emergency Management Office.
Flights have resumed at the airports on Saipan, Tinian and Rota, while the islands’ seaports remained closed, the Commonwealth Ports Authority said.
As of 9 a.m. yesterday, Typhoon Melor was passing westward through the Marianas near Anatahan and moving farther into the Philippines Sea, the National Weather Service Forecast Office in Tiyan, Guam stated.
EMO’s geophysical seismic technician/supervisor John Takai Camacho told the Variety that there were no reported injuries or deaths even as the government continued clearing roads of debris and fallen trees.
There were no evacuees on Rota and Tinian, while heavy flooding was not reported on Saipan, Camacho said.
Agrihan was “clear” as of 8 a.m. yesterday, he added.
As of 8 p.m. on Saturday, EMO said close to 700 individuals took temporary shelter at Marianas High School, 218; Garapan Elementary School, 116; Koblerville Elementary School, 88; Kagman Community Center, 62; Dandan Elementary School, 61; Kagman High School, 59; Tanapag Elementary School, 44; and Chacha Oceanview Junior High, 33.
The Federal Aviation Administration gave the go signal to resume flights on the islands’ airports shortly after 8 a.m. yesterday, CPA acting Executive Director Maryann Q. Lizama told the Variety.
Some people were seen going in and out of San Jose Mart, while other stores remained closed, shortly before midnight Saturday.
Some adult businesses in the Garapan area were open even as the Department of Public Safety’s patrol officer advised motorists to avoid the roads or to go home.
Commonwealth Utilities Corp. personnel were seen fixing electrical posts while gas stations resumed operations after closing down on Saturday.
Dandan transformer
Except for the power line transformer that burned at Dandan Elementary School, most of the public schools on Saipan and Tinian had been cleared of fallen debris.
This was the initial assessment of the Public School System as reported by Peter James Le’au, acting associate commissioner for administrative services yesterday.
The schools are “ready to open,” he told Variety.
The Public School System also reported “minor damage” at its facilities, but the assessment was still ongoing.
Schools on Rota were “fine,” Le’au said.
“As for Tinian they also had no problems,” he added.
Power outages
Of the about 500 affected customers, around 90 were still without power as of 10 a.m. yesterday while the Commonwealth Utilities Corp. continued its restoration efforts.
CUC assistant executive director for operations Abe Utu Malae said their line crews had been working around the clock in 12- to 14-hour shifts since Friday evening.
The restoration should be completed by Tuesday, he added.
Malae said the outages were caused by flying debris or vegetation coming into contact with the primary lines, including trees falling on conductors.
But only one power pole fell over, he reported.
Hardware failure was a major cause of outages and was being addressed by CUC’s engineering division, he said.
According to Malae, CUC’s power system was not shut down even when the winds were at their peak strength.
Only two of the eight feeders tripped, he said.
“This is a good sign that the system is more storm-resistant although we are a long way off from being typhoon-resistant. To be typhoon-resistant, more primary lines need to buried.”
He said there is still too much vegetation growing next to or underneath the primary lines in certain areas.
But there was no damage to the power generation system including from Rota and Tinian as of yesterday, he added.
The biggest challenge at the power plants is to dispose of the waste oil accumulated over the years, in an environmentally sound way, and to guard against any potential threat of a spill into a body of water, Malae said.
“We must plan for the worst during a big storm,” he added.
He said that damage to water and wastewater facilities was minimal.
His report didn’t identify the areas affected by power outages but in Dandan, there was no power from 6:30 p.m. to 12 midnight, Saturday.
Open for business
Groceries, remittance centers and laundromats remained open despite the typhoon conditions on Saturday.
Joeten stores opened at 8 a.m.
“We have to open our stores to help people who need to buy their emergency needs,” Dolly Muna, store manager, said, adding that 80 percent of their customers bought supplies they would need during a typhoon — flashlights, batteries, butane gas, candles and food.
But due to the typhoon conditions, Muna said Joeten closed at 3 p.m. and not 9 p.m.
“We also have to consider the safety of our employees,” she said.
Also open on Saturday were Garapan Happy Market, X.O Supermarket, H-Mart as well as the LBC remittance centers in Susupe and Garapan.
LBC opened at 9 a.m. Its staff said they were open because some workers received their paychecks on Friday and needed to send money to their relatives in the Philippines.
Police, however, informed LBC Garapan to finish its transactions as soon as possible because the typhoon conditions were worsening.
LBC Garapan closed at 12 noon.
Several people were seen at Grand Laundry on Middle Road to wash their clothes.
“I need to finish my laundry now since I have work tomorrow,” said Rey Agoncillo. “I no longer have clothes to wear.”
Grand closed at 6 p.m. after police warned employees of the worsening weather conditions.
Damage assessment
The local chapter of the American Red Cross conducted a preliminary damage assessment yesterday.
Its Executive Director John Hirsh said they wanted to know if there were families affected by the typhoon.
Four teams of volunteers roamed the island to search for typhoon victims.
Hirsh said they did not receive any reports on deaths, casualties or victims as of yesterday morning.
“The typhoon was not as bad as we expected,” he added.
The Red Cross management team, its volunteers as well as the public were well-prepared because the Emergency Management Office provided timely advisories, he said.
The Red Cross provided the Public School System with shelter kits on Friday.
“After all is cleared, we will release our volunteers and give them credits for their contributed efforts,” Hirsh said.
In other news, the Santos family, which evacuated from Alamagan, moved out of the Red Cross center last week.
Special marine advisory
Based on the information received from the National Weather Service on Guam, Gov. Benigno R. Fital yesterday said seas and swells generated by Typhoon Melor will keep surf hazardous on north and east facing reefs through Monday morning.
This surf will generate dangerous rip currents.
High surf advisory is in effect for Rota, Tinian and Saipan until 10 a.m. Monday.
A high surf advisory means that high surf will affect exposed reefs and beaches in the advisory area producing dangerous rip currents.
Expect hazardous surf of 10 to 12 feet on east exposures and 8 to 10 feet on north facing reefs today.
Members of the public, especially mariners and beachgoers, are urged to avoid venturing near exposed reefs and beaches, as rip currents can be life threatening.
