Sinlaku leaves Micronesia rebuilding amid ongoing outages

Typhoon Sinlaku, which rapidly intensified into a 185-mph super typhoon and became the deadliest storm in the Micronesian Pacific since 2002, has left tens of thousands of people without electricity, water access problems, damaged homes, and disrupted schools

The storm didn’t just arrive—it changed shape fast, and when it did, people on Saipan learned how quickly “prepared” can turn into “praying.”

Katelynn Delos Reyes, a lifelong Chamorro resident of the island, had watched other hurricanes tear through the region before. She survived Supertyphoon Yutu, whose 170-mph winds devastated her village in the southern end of Saipan eight years ago. Three years before that, she lived through Typhoon Soudelor.

Sinlaku felt different from the beginning. “At the beginning, it was OK. But later on it wasn’t,” Delos Reyes said.

A few days before it hit the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands (CNMI) on April 14. Sinlaku brought tropical-storm winds—a type of system known in the Marianas as a “banana typhoon. ” because such storms can level banana trees while leaving other structures standing. Over the weekend. the typhoon rapidly intensified by 75 mph in just 24 hours. becoming a 185-mph storm and the strongest storm on Earth so far this year.

Delos Reyes and her family had boarded up windows and stocked drinking water. buying gallons and filling plastic drums for use in the shower and toilet. But when the storm struck, she felt the ground shift beneath their precautions. The winds had weakened to 150 mph, yet they still ripped the wood from a window. Rainwater gushed through the ceiling and soaked their belongings, including Delos Reyes’ mattress. She and her partner. her mother. her daughter. and their two dogs hid in her mother’s room. where its concrete roof and walls could keep them safe. She heard sections of the roof tumbling away.

Eventually Sinlaku slowed to a crawl, forcing tens of thousands of people to remain sheltered for days. Delos Reyes described lying there wondering what came next—“How long is this storm going to be with us?”—and praying, “I think, Lord, maybe it’s enough, you can go and finish it elsewhere.”

More than a month later, that waiting still hasn’t ended. Families in the Northern Mariana Islands and beyond are dealing with a lack of electricity and the work of clearing debris as they pick through what’s left of their homes.

In Saipan’s tourism district, Garapan, debris was still littering streets in late May, more than a month after Sinlaku hit. The region-wide death toll—covering Guam and the Federated States of Micronesia—has risen to 17, making Sinlaku the deadliest storm in the Micronesian Pacific since 2002.

Those deaths include a couple on Guam who died of carbon monoxide poisoning after running their generator indoors. Also among the fatalities are six crew members of the cargo ship Mariana, caught in the storm when its engine died.

In Chuuk State in the Federated States of Micronesia, Sinlaku killed nine people, including a baby whose pregnant mother couldn’t reach the hospital because fallen trees blocked the route. Other deaths in Chuuk were attributed to a boat capsizing and a tree falling on someone.

Strong storms are common in the Micronesian region of the Pacific, but rarely this deadly. Shel Winkley. a meteorologist at Climate Central. said the typhoon’s sudden escalation happened over ocean waters 0.6 degrees Celsius warmer than average—conditions that. he said. are made 70 to 100 times more likely by climate change. driven by the burning of fossil fuels like oil and gas. Rising sea temperatures. scientists have long warned. can help storms strengthen faster and hold more moisture. increasing the risk of flooding. “In general, climate change is making events like this more intense at their peak intensity,” Winkley said.

The storm’s name itself carries cultural weight. Sinlaku was named for the Kosraean goddess of breadfruit in the Federated States of Micronesia—a cultural staple also threatened by climate change.

As the recovery drags on. many Pacific Indigenous communities—who have contributed relatively little to greenhouse gas emissions—are still seeing the costs arrive first. Their nations have been pressing major polluters like the U.S. and China to be accountable for carbon emissions and help pay for the damage caused by extreme weather.

The Federated States of Micronesia was among 140 countries that voted last week in favor of a United Nations resolution stating that governments have a legal obligation to protect the Earth from harm caused by greenhouse gases. The resolution also says nations that fail to meet that obligation must pay climate reparations. The U.S. which claims sovereignty over CNMI and Guam. was one of just eight nations that voted against the resolution.

In Chuuk State—the part of the Federated States of Micronesia hardest hit by the typhoon—emergency officials’ latest available report estimates that Sinlaku destroyed or severely damaged more than 7. 000 homes and displaced more than 13. 000 people. The report warned that “Access to safe water is critically compromised. food reserves are depleting rapidly. and the outer islands face growing isolation as maritime supply lines remain constrained.”.

Relief has come from a mix of organizations, including U.N. agencies such as the International Organization for Migration, along with nonprofit organizations and countries such as the U.S. and China. The Micronesian diaspora in the U.S. has also mobilized to send food and money. Josie Howard. head of the Honolulu-based nonprofit We Are Oceania. said. “They’re going to need financial support to rebuild their houses. They’re going to need chainsaws to cut down trees.”.

Back in the CNMI, officials are still tallying how many homes were destroyed and how many people were displaced. But daily life remains shaped by missing infrastructure. As of last week, piles of debris still lined roadsides, and the entire island of Tinian remained without electricity. Families opened windows to catch breezes in search of relief from humidity and temperatures in the 80-plus degree range.

Indigenous fishermen in the CNMI caught ti’ao. or goatfish. to feed their families fresh dinners in the absence of refrigeration. Residents of Guam bought so many battery-powered Ryobi fans to send to loved ones on more affected islands that Home Depot ran out. In both the CNMI and Chuuk. children were missing school because schoolhouses were severely damaged or destroyed. and many are not expected to return for months.

In Saipan. people waited for help at a local recovery center where they spoke to Federal Emergency Management Agency officials about applying for aid. On average, they waited two to three hours. As of last week. more than 9. 000 CNMI residents had applied for federal disaster assistance. and the recovery center was adding an average of 300 more people each day. JD Reyes. a CNMI Commerce Department official who has been managing the recovery center. compared the lines to “a snake. kind of like the lines at Disneyland.” Some families arrived with children.

Reyes said families were coming from across the island: “Soudelor hit the north, and Yutu hit the south,” he said. “This just hit everyone, and what made it worse is it just sat on top of us for more than 24 hours. So it really made sure, if you’re not affected, you will be.”

His wife worked at the hospital during the storm. so he stayed home to watch their two-year-old and mop up water flooding their home in northern Saipan. Just before dawn, neighbors ran to his house for shelter because their roof had blown away. He said. “We actually are very fortunate; we just had our flooding. damage to personal property.” His village went without electricity for more than five weeks. but he said. “But at least we have a roof over our head. no windows destroyed. just damage to the car.”.

For Delos Reyes, the uncertainty is harder to measure. She and thousands of other residents are still waiting on recovery that can’t be timed like a calendar event. The deadline to apply for FEMA disaster assistance in the CNMI is June 22.

Delos Reyes’ family in southern Saipan is one of more than 450 families that have received emergency tents or temporary roofs so far. A FEMA tent now sits in her yard, and a tarp partially covers her missing roof.

After the typhoon, she dragged her rain-soaked mattress into the yard to dry slowly under hot sun. The first thing she and her family did was clear debris from their driveway so an ambulance could reach her mother in an emergency.

Delos Reyes is the caregiver for her 94-year-old mother, who has dementia and has been bedridden for seven years. That caregiving role shapes everything: even as storms keep coming, she doesn’t plan to leave. “One day at a time,” she said.

Typhoon Sinlaku Saipan CNMI Federated States of Micronesia Chuuk Guam climate change FEMA power outages disaster recovery Indigenous communities