290km/h Super Typhoon Yutu devastates Northern Mariana Islands, killing one on US Pacific territory
- Even after Super Typhoon Yutu had moved away, emergency management officials warned residents to stay indoors because downed power lines blocked roadways
- The territory will need significant help to recover from the storm that injured several people, said the territory’s delegate
The strongest storm to hit any part of the United States this year crumbled concrete houses, smashed cars and killed at least one person in the Northern Mariana Islands, shocking residents and officials used to riding out monster storms in the US territory in the Pacific.
A day after Super Typhoon Yutu slammed into the territory that is home to 50,000 people, residents on Friday picked through destruction ranging from collapsed houses – including some built to withstand typhoon winds – to snapped poles blocking waterlogged roads. They braced for months without power or running water.
Maximum sustained winds of 290km/h were recorded around the eye of the storm, which passed over the islands of Tinian and Saipan early Thursday, the National Weather Service said.
A 44-year-old woman taking shelter in an abandoned building died when it collapsed in the storm, the governor’s office Facebook page said. Officials could not immediately be reached for additional details.
The territory’s only hospital in Saipan, the most populated island, said it received 133 people in the emergency room Thursday, and three patients had severe injuries that needed surgery.
Officials toured villages in Saipan and saw cars crushed under a collapsed garage, the ground ripped clean of vegetation and people injured by spraying glass and other debris.