The strongest tropical cyclone on Earth this year — relentlessly struck a pair of remote U.S. islands in the western Pacific Ocean early Wednesday local time with extremely powerful winds and heavy rain, with residents reporting tin roofs being torn apart.
The typhoon had sustained winds of up to 150 mph, equating to a strong Category 4, when it hit the islands of Tinian and Saipan of the Northern Mariana Islands, according to the National Weather Service. As of 11 a.m. Wednesday local time, maximum sustained winds had dropped to 130 mph and the storm started tracking to the north.
Sinlaku will start to curve toward sparsely populated volcanic islands in the far northern Marianas, he said.
Sinlaku is forecast to continue weakening through the next few days, the National Weather Service said, passing west of the islands of Alamagan, Pagan and Agrihan through the latter half of the week.
“I’m guessing anything that was made of wood and tin did not survive this,” Glen Hunter told The Associated Press. Hunter grew up on Saipan and watched at least three tin roofs fly past his yard.
Hunter, who has weathered numerous typhoons, told The AP this felt like the strongest yet. Rain was seeping into every crevice of his concrete home, he said.
“It was a losing battle because the rain was coming through everywhere,” he said. “Every house is just flooded with water, no matter what type of structure you’re in.”
Extensive flooding was reported in certain places, with Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Jose Blas Camacho telling The Associated Press that Sinlaku was “hitting us hard.”
“It’s so difficult for us to respond with this heavy rain, heavy wind to rescue people,” the mayor said. “Objects are just flying left and right.”
Camacho told The AP some people have been rescued, while the typhoon toppled trees and caused wooden and tin structures to collapse.
Video shared by AP ahead of the typhoon’s arrival showed its early impacts on Saipan, as Sinlaku hovered offshore, launching fierce winds and rain toward the island. Before arriving on land, the storm had become “nearly stationary” about 30 miles off the coast of the archipelago for several hours, forecasts showed. Its slow pace raised concerns about how long the storm would linger in the region, and the amount of damage that could cause.