Typhoon Soudelor

'Super typhoon' Dujuan nears Taiwan

Torrential rains and high winds are predicted across Taiwan from Monday afternoon as Dujuan neared the east coast, with landfall predicted around 11pm local time.

Taiwan’s weather bureau upgraded Dujuan to a “strong typhoon” Sunday – it’s top category.

Other regional weather bureaus, including the Hong Kong Observatory, categorised it as a “super typhoon” as it intensified to reach gusts of 227km per hour.

“It is due to exert influence from noon after its edge reaches the island,” said an official at Taiwan’s Central Weather Bureau.

CNMI gets over US$25m typhoon assistance

The Federal Emergency Management Agency has given just over $20 million in assistance to households on the island.

In addition the U.S. Small Business Administration has approved nearly $5.9 million in low-interest disaster loans to homeowners, renters, and businesses.

The bulk of the federal funding has gone on household assistance, covering rents and repairs.

It has also provided money for items such as uninsured damage to an essential vehicle, disaster-related moving and storage expenses, and some medical and dental costs.

CNMI government shutdown warning

A government shutdown would stall the continuing recovery after Typhoon Soudelor left the CNMI in a state of disaster six weeks ago.

The House and the Senate are deadlocked on the new budget, specifically a US$2.5 million dollars allocation to the Marianas Visitors Authority that the Senate wants used to pay the hospital's power bill and for X-rays for Customs.

The CNMI governor is required by the Constitution to submit a budget by April 1st, and the Senate and the House then have six months to pass it.

CNMI casino shut for three weeks by typhoon

The CNMI's first operational casino was forced to close down on Friday amid widespread visitor cancellations.

Since Soudelor battered Saipan on August 2nd, more than 9,000 tourists have cancelled their trips to the CNMI, resulting in lost revenue of US$24 million dollars.

While Tinian was not that badly affected its struggles result from the devastation on neighbouring Saipan, the territory's international air hub.

Tropical storm intensifies as it approches Guam and CNMI

The latest storm comes only two weeks after the Northern Marianas was struck by category three typhoon Soudelor, which caused extensive damage.

Michael Ziobro, from the US National Weather Service on Guam, says the storm is moving north, northwest at about 14 kilometres an hour and is projected to pass over Tinian and Rota early on Sunday.

Mr Ziobro says people in both the Northern Marianas and Guam should expect potentially damaging winds and heavy rain.

Relief not reaching CNMI Soudelor victims

Government and NGO listings of individuals and families requesting relief are now in the thousands and continue to grow as more people come forward to seek help.

Our correspondent in the CNMI Mark Rabago says the demand for aid has raised tensions, with the Red Cross forced to shut its office by police on Wednesday after fights broke out among people seeking aid.

He says the situation is now calm but but authorities are still struggling to get aid to the people who need it the most.

Typhoon weakens over China after leaving 22 dead, missing

Typhoon Soudelor made landfall in China's Fujian province late Saturday night and was downgraded into a tropical storm as it moved across the region.

Rains from the typhoon triggered mudslides in mountainous Pingyang county in Zhejiang province, north of Fujian, killing nine people and leaving three others missing, the county government said.

Weather Service blindsided by CNMI typhoon's strength

The typhoon destroyed more than 380 homes and damaged other infrastructure on the territory's main island of Saipan.

The service has acknowledged that its wind forecasts were too low, affirming residents' suspicion that the devastating winds were much stronger than forecast.

Meanwhile, a third water filling station has been opened as the recovery gets into full swing.

The Commonwealth Utilities Corporation is replacing 400 power poles , while the Department of Public Works has begun clearing debris from secondary roads.

Super typhoon Soudelor powers towards Taiwan, may boost El Nino in Pacific

The category 5 storm is expected to strengthen further, with sustained wind speeds of 150 knots, or 277.8 km/h, later on Tuesday, US space agency NASA said. 

The Joint Typhoon Warning Centre is predicting wind speeds could reach 160 knots, with gusts reaching 195 knots, or 361 km/h.

“It's not the most intense ever, but it is intense,” Kevin Walsh, an associate professor of the School of Earth Sciences at Melbourne University, said.

A typhoon gains “super” status once sustained winds reach 130 knots, he said.

Catastrophe in Northern Marianas

As of Tuesday, Saipan still had no power. Gasoline stations were rationing their supplies if they still had some left.

Debris was all over the island, and some roads remained blocked by fallen trees or power poles — or both. All hotels, big or small, were fully booked but were already running out of some key supplies.

Some establishments were running on generators but they had to scale down their operations to save on fuel.

Variety was told that it may take weeks — or months — before the Commonwealth Utilities Corp (CUC) can fully restore its system.