Typhoon Bavi

With the “All Clear” declared but advisories still in effect, utility crews across the CNMI are confronting fragile systems and storm‑related setbacks as they work to bring electricity and water back online for Saipan, Tinian and Rota.

Up to half of the utility poles on the island were toppled, and residents can spend six hours in line at the water-filling station.

CNMI Delegate Kimberlyn King‑Hinds issued a late‑Tuesday Instagram message reassuring residents that recovery efforts were already underway, shortly after the Commonwealth lifted its all‑clear following Typhoon Bavi’s direct landfall on Rota.

Seas on all islands remain dangerous, and on Rota, debris and structural damage pose problems. Meanwhile, forecasters are keeping an eye on Invest 97W in the Marshall Islands.

Preliminary data show all four islands had typhoon-force winds.

Rota Mayor Aubrey Hocog confirmed Monday that the Mayor’s Office suffered “major damages” after Super Typhoon Bavi’s eyewall passed directly over the island.

Flash flooding and extreme winds hammered Rota early Monday as Super Typhoon Bavi passed overhead, prompting urgent safety warnings and driving hundreds of residents into government shelters.

Forecasters said passage of the eye would take about two hours, and intense winds would resume in the opposite direction.

Rota residents are advised to move to interior rooms of shelters and to stay away from windows.

At 1 a.m. Monday, the system was located at 13.7 north latitude and 146.9 east longitude, about 134 miles east of Andersen Air Force Base. It was packing winds of 180 mph and gusts of 215 mph as it approached the island chain.