4:53 pm on 9 October 2019
Powerful Super Typhoon Hagibis has left the Northern Marianas unscathed and is on its way to Japan.
Photo: Google Maps
Hagibis intensified unusually fast, going from tropical storm to super typhoon in just 18 hours.
However, no serious damage was reported in the Northern Marianas, with the storm leaving the territory last night.
Government offices and some schools reopened today, RNZ Pacific's correspondent in Saipan Mark Rabago said.
"Thankfully, the CNMI was left relatively unscathed by that Super Typhoon. Thank God that except for some banana trees
and small trees, we didn't get much damage."
Mr Rabago said 148 people sought shelter at emergency evacuation centres on Saipan on Tuesday.
He said the group were living in temporary shelters after losing their homes during last year's devastating Super
Typhoon Yutu.
Many suffered from PTSD as a result, he added. "Fortunately, when they went home their [temporary] houses were still
intact."