Typhoon Sinlaku tears into Pacific outposts

Super Typhoon Sinlaku battered Saipan and Tinian in the Northern Mariana Islands on Wednesday, ripping away roofs, toppling power lines and flooding homes as one of the fiercest storms to strike the Western Pacific this year swept across the remote U. S. territory. Officials said residents were told to remain in reinforced shelters and concrete buildings as dangerous winds and heavy rain continued long after the eye moved past the islands.

The storm made landfall with sustained winds of about 150 mph, placing it in the upper tier of tropical cyclones and making it the strongest storm on the planet so far in 2026, according to weather authorities and multiple reports tracking the system. Even after crossing the islands, forecasters warned that winds strong enough to keep people indoors were expected to persist, with tropical-storm-force conditions likely to linger into the following day because of the storm’s size and slow movement.

Preliminary accounts from Saipan pointed to widespread damage. Local officials described flooding, uprooted trees and snapped utility lines, while residents reported tin roofs flying through neighbourhoods and rain driving into concrete homes. Images and witness accounts from the island showed vehicles overturned or piled up, commercial structures damaged and debris scattered across roads. There were no immediate reports of deaths, a point local and territorial officials attributed in part to repeated warnings for people outside concrete housing to seek shelter before the core of the storm arrived.

More than 1,000 people were being housed in shelters across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, according to relief officials, underscoring the scale of the disruption in a territory with a comparatively small and dispersed population. Saipan and Tinian together sit at the heart of the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands, where infrastructure is limited and recovery from major storms is often prolonged by distance, supply constraints and the high cost of rebuilding.

Guam, farther south, avoided the full force of the eyewall but still faced flash flooding, damaging winds and disruptions around military and civilian facilities. U. S. military personnel on Guam were ordered to shelter in place, reflecting the island’s strategic role as a hub for American forces in the Pacific. Weather officials said the outer bands were enough to create hazardous conditions across the island, including flooding in low-lying areas and the risk of debris-related injuries.

Federal authorities had moved before landfall. Emergency declarations were approved for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing federal resources to be mobilised as the storm approached. FEMA said nearly 100 staff and additional personnel were being coordinated across agencies to support the response. The declarations, dated April 11, gave local authorities access to federal assistance as Sinlaku strengthened and moved towards the Marianas.

Chronology also matters in assessing the storm’s significance. Sinlaku first threatened Guam and nearby islands over the weekend after developing near Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia. By Saturday, forecasters were warning it could approach Guam early in the week and extend dangerous conditions to Rota, Tinian and Saipan. By Tuesday into Wednesday local time, the system had intensified into a super typhoon and crossed the Northern Marianas, while officials warned the public that it would remain unsafe to venture outside even after the centre had moved away.

The storm’s ferocity has also revived a longer-running debate about climate resilience in the Pacific. Saipan was still rebuilding from Super Typhoon Yutu, which devastated the island in 2018, when the pandemic dealt another blow to its tourism-led economy. Education facilities, homes and commercial buildings damaged in that storm had only gradually been restored. Local officials and residents now fear Sinlaku could deepen those strains, particularly for low-income households and older buildings less able to withstand prolonged exposure to violent wind and rain.