LEILA FADEL, HOST:
Authorities are beginning to tally up the damage from a super typhoon that hit the Northern Mariana Islands this week. Typhoon Sinlaku had winds of 150 miles an hour when it struck the U.S. territory, home to around 50,000 U.S. citizens.
A MARTÍNEZ, HOST:
Widespread power outages have made communication difficult. The island of Saipan took a direct hit, and so far, there have been no reports of death. NPR member station Public Radio Guam has a reporter in Saipan.
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BRYAN MANABAT, BYLINE: Winds are still howling, and the winds are still strong. If you look outside, most trees are down - banana trees, fruit trees.
MARTÍNEZ: Bryan Manabat sent us voice memos as he sheltered at home with his wife and four kids.
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MANABAT: My landlord assured me that it was a typhoon-proof, FEMA-inspected housing unit. So we did rent it out, and apparently, it's really typhoon-proof. It survived it.
FADEL: But he says many other residents of Saipan aren't so lucky.
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MANABAT: You can see a lot of debris from houses that their roofs have been ripped off.
FADEL: The islands are in a part of the Pacific Ocean called Typhoon Alley, so they get a lot of storms. But Manabat says this storm is different.
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MANABAT: Other typhoons that I experience, once it make landfall, about two to three, four hours, there would be an all clear. Typhoon Sinlaku, it made landfall sometime Tuesday, and now it's Thursday, and it's still here. It's still pulling trees. It's still ripping off houses.
MARTÍNEZ: Wow. The storm was powerful enough to flip over cars and rip away utility poles.
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MANABAT: Saipan is devastated. Our economy's dependent on tourism. And because of this devastation, it's so hard to tell when we can recover.
FADEL: Manabat says he's eager for the storm to pass so he can begin cleaning up and rebuilding.
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MANABAT: We've been through different other typhoons. Residents are very resilient, and they're very tough, and they would carry on, regardless of this devastation.
FADEL: Sinlaku also pounded the U.S. territory of Guam and its U.S. military bases with tropical-force winds. President Trump issued a disaster declaration for the Northern Mariana Islands. FEMA has announced it will send personnel and supplies to help with recovery.
(SOUNDBITE OF AIRELLE BESSON AND NELSON VERAS' "FULL MOON IN K.") Transcript provided by NPR, Copyright NPR.
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