SAIPAN — About half of Saipan’s electric customers had power as of this week, two months after Super Typhoon Sinlaku, as the Commonwealth Utilities Corporation worked to move emergency water wells onto the grid and federal generators began winding down, the Joint Information Center said Tuesday.
In its latest Sinlaku recovery update, the JIC said roughly 50 percent of Saipan’s 15,493 electric customers were connected to the CUC grid, with feeder demand to energized customers at 24.5 megawatts. The utility reported total generation output of 26.3 megawatts as of Tuesday evening, against available capacity of 34.7 megawatts, which the JIC noted has surpassed pre-typhoon levels. Even so, the center said full restoration cannot be reached until both generation and distribution repairs are complete, with work continuing on damaged poles, transmission lines and lateral lines across the villages.
The JIC said Saipan now has 24-hour water across the island, with production at 10.5 million gallons per day out of 11.5 million. Of the island’s water wells, 77 were on the CUC grid, five on CUC generators and 25 still on FEMA generators as the utility continues transferring wells off generator power. A boil water notice remains in effect. The center cautioned that the transition from generators to the grid may cause fluctuations in water service hours.
On Tinian, the JIC said power had been restored to 673 customers, or about 64 percent, and that water service was fully online for the island’s 861 customers. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has collected 14,258 cubic yards of debris on Tinian and 66,425 cubic yards on Saipan.
On federal assistance, the JIC said FEMA had awarded about $27.7 million through its Individuals and Households Program across 11,769 registrations, including roughly $2.1 million in housing assistance and $25.7 million in other needs assistance. The U.S. Small Business Administration had provided about $16.1 million in disaster loans from 1,045 applications.
Under the STRONG tent and roofing mission, which provides temporary shelter to households whose homes were damaged while permanent repairs are made, crews have installed 1,422 tents and 815 temporary roofs across Saipan, Tinian and Rota.
The JIC also said the Commonwealth Healthcare Corporation will hold medical outreach events on June 23 at the NAP office in As Lito, June 26 at the Multi Purpose Center in Susupe and June 30 at the Saipan Mayor’s Office in Susupe, offering health screenings and, at the June 23 event, a WIC pop-up clinic and flu and COVID-19 vaccinations.
