Packing winds of up to 140 miles per hour, Melor made its closest approach to Saipan on Saturday night before veering away as it developed into a supertyphoon with maximum sustained winds of up to 165 miles per hour.
Speaker Arnold I. Palacios, R-Saipan, said the CNMI was very fortunate.
“It’s a sigh of relief. We’ve gone through some major typhoons in the past and we always bounce back. We’re very fortunate that Melor veered away from us,” he said.
Rep. Stanley T. Torres, R-Saipan, said the island was “lucky.”
He said he lost only the banana trees on his farm but it could have been worse if Melor was able to unleash its full power on the islands.
On Tuesday, American and Western Samoas in the South Pacific were struck by an 8.3 magnitude quake that left thousands homeless and more than 170 people dead.
The speaker said the people of the Northern Marianas grieve with their fellow islanders and offer prayers for their speedy recovery.
“Our prayers go out to the people of American Samoa and Western Samoa,” he said. “We also offer our sympathies to those folks in the Philippines. We continue to pray for them.”
