FEMA officials are assessing widespread damage across the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands after Super Typhoon Sinlaku battered the islands for 72 hours from April 14 to 16, crippling water, power and communications systems.
Their findings will determine whether the CNMI qualifies for a major disaster declaration, which would unlock FEMA individual assistance and long‑term federal recovery programs.
FEMA Region 9 Administrator Robert Fenton, who arrived Friday, said the agency is focused on stabilizing essential services while conducting its assessment.
“Right now, we need to make sure we're taking care of those immediate needs. We need to make sure people have food and water, that we have emergency power, that the medical… systems [are] going, that we get communications back up here, and we'll do that as a team,” he said.
Fenton said Sinlaku’s size and slow movement made it especially destructive.
“The difficulty about this event was the sheer size of it… 500 miles in diameter… This took 48–72 hours for it to move through,” he said.
He said hardened infrastructure installed after past disasters—such as concrete poles and FEMA‑built housing—held up well.
According to Fenton, FEMA has activated a supply chain stretching from the U.S. mainland to Hawaii, Guam and the CNMI, moving generators, bottled water, meals, tarps and communications equipment by air and sea. About 500 federal responders are already in the region, with more arriving daily.
The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers’ 249th Power Battalion is deploying generators to hospitals, wells, airports and critical facilities. FEMA communications teams are setting up temporary towers and antennas after a major tower system failed during the storm.
Fenton said restoring water is the most urgent need.
“We know what generators actually power their wells… we will make sure that those critical facilities… come back operational as quick as we can.” Bottled water shipments are being routed to Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
An emergency declaration already approved by the president allows FEMA to conduct life‑saving operations immediately. A major disaster declaration—now under review—would open individual assistance for residents.
“That doesn't prevent me or stop me from doing anything I need to do right now,” Fenton said.
Gov. David M. Apatang thanked the president for expediting the emergency declaration and said water remains the Commonwealth’s top concern. “Water actually is a priority number one… because we don’t want to have any… epidemic out there, especially our people in the shelter.”
Fuel shortages are complicating generator operations.
“Everybody’s running around looking for diesel right now… trying to get the service station open,” Apatang said.
Cleanup is underway across all three islands, and the CNMI is requesting additional labor support. Shelter operations may be extended as power and water restoration continues.
Apatang urged residents to stay safe and work together. “We’re good in that, so let’s just work together and we’ll be okay. We can recover from this.”
