Governor applauds Commonwealth-wide readiness for Bolaven

(CNMI Office of the Governor) – The morning after Typhoon Bolaven made its closest point of approach to Rota, Tinian, and Saipan, Governor Arnold I. Palacios, together with Rota Mayor Aubry Hocog, Special Assistant for the CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management (HSEM) Office Franklin Babauta, Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Region 9 team lead Teresa Serata, and Navy Captain Harry Elliott IV made an aerial and ground assessment of the island of Rota with the assistance of the US Navy.

Governor Palacios, Special Assistant Babauta, Capt. Elliott, and Serata also conducted aerial assessments of Saipan and Tinian prior to the Rota assessment visit.

Governor Palacios said, “I commend our emergency operations agencies led by the HSEM and also thank our partners at the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the Department of Defense for their utmost help before, during, and after the storm.”

Out of all three islands, Typhoon Bolaven was expected to affect Rota more than Saipan and Tinian, according to the National Weather Service in Guam.

Assessments are ongoing, and current impacts include downed power lines, fallen branches or trees, and power outages were spread across the island of Rota due to the storm. Electricity to the Rota community was restored by late Wednesday afternoon. Water services were also fully operational, however, due to turbidity caused by Typhoon Bolaven, a boil water notice remains in effect until further notice.

“I have been in constant communication with our residents on the island of Rota as well as our counterparts at the CNMI Homeland Security and Emergency Management office, the Federal Emergency Management Agency, and the US Navy as Bolaven was approaching the islands,” Rota Mayor Hocog said. “I’d like to thank our amazing team here on Rota, especially our utilities personnel who restored power and water quickly to the community.”

On Rota, Governor Palacios, Special Assistant Babauta, FEMA team lead Serata, and Captain Elliot also met with island residents, Mayor’s office staff, and Commonwealth Utilities Corporation personnel. One of the key discussions between Governor Palacios and Mayor Aubry was the power situation in Rota and how to expand the resilience of the power grid and generator.

“When it comes to storms, the people of Rota truly know the meaning of the word resilience,” Governor Palacios said. “They were fast to act and prepare, and were always communicating with us.”

Saipan and Tinian

The governor and other officials made their aerial assessments of Saipan and Tinian.

All feeders on Saipan and Tinian were reported to be online by the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation, with the exception of isolated cases where customers had issues with transformers, downed lines, and/or leaning power poles.

For Tinian, water services were fully online as of Wednesday afternoon. Saipan, however, has customers in the northern part of the island experiencing low to no water pressure due to the storm.