Federal recovery aid tops $52 million as NMI shifts focus to economic rebound

BY MARK RABAGO
Saipan Correspondent

CAPITOL HILL, Saipan — More than $52 million in federal disaster assistance and loan offers have been committed to the Northern Mariana Islands following Super Typhoon Sinlaku, as recovery efforts increasingly transition from emergency response to rebuilding the Commonwealth's economy.

At the conclusion of the Federal Emergency Management Agency application period on June 22, a total of 12,136 NMI households had applied for disaster assistance and more than $32.3 million had been approved for survivors, according to Bradley Pierce, external affairs officer for FEMA's National Incident Management Assistance Team Red.

He said the response to Sinlaku represented one of the largest coordinated recovery efforts in recent NMI history.

"The response and recovery of Super Typhoon Sinlaku has been a massive, coordinated effort between the Commonwealth of Northern Mariana Islands and nearly a dozen federal agencies," Pierce said.

Those agencies include FEMA, the Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency, the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers, the U.S. Department of Agriculture, the U.S. Department of Energy, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the U.S. Forest Service and the U.S. Small Business Administration.

Pierce said FEMA helped coordinate locally led response efforts with federal interagency teams to stabilize critical community lifelines, including communications networks, power systems, water systems and transportation services.

Currently, 258 FEMA personnel remain deployed throughout the NMI, although staffing levels peaked at nearly 300 personnel during the height of response operations.

FEMA assistance
Pierce said FEMA has generally seen higher approval rates than normal following Sinlaku.

"It's too early to calculate a percentage of approvals compared to rejections," he said. "We can say approvals have generally been higher than usual which can at least partly be attributed to system refinements that improve general accessibility for survivors to access applications."

He said missing documentation remains the leading cause of ineligibility determinations. "We encourage everyone to look in those letters to determine the reason they were found to be ineligible and what documentation is needed to reverse that decision," Pierce said.

Residents may appeal FEMA decisions online through DisasterAssistance.gov, by calling FEMA or by visiting a Survivor Recovery Center.

Of the $32.3 million approved by FEMA, the largest share has come through housing and other individual assistance programs designed to help survivors recover from storm-related losses.

SBA assistance
Federal disaster assistance continues to be supplemented by low-interest disaster loans from the U.S. Small Business Administration.

According to federal recovery reports, SBA has received 1,129 disaster loan applications and extended 252 loan offers totaling approximately $20.8 million.

A total of 916 home loan applications has resulted in 236 loan offers totaling approximately $19.67 million, while 213 business loan applications have generated 16 loan offers totaling approximately $1.13 million.

Corey Williams, public affairs specialist with the SBA Office of Disaster Recovery and Resilience, said SBA's work in the NMI has benefited from close coordination with FEMA and local agencies.

"It's always a great partnership to be able to be with FEMA and the Survivor Recovery Centers and to help out those that were impacted by this devastating typhoon. It's been a great experience, I think, with the SBA response, as well as coordination with FEMA and other federal agencies, and making sure that we've seen some swift recovery."

While acknowledging that recovery remains ongoing, Williams said SBA has seen encouraging progress in recent weeks. "We know it's still a long road to recovery, but we've seen some good gains over these past couple of months," he said. 

Williams noted that many residents mistakenly believe SBA assistance is available only to businesses. 

"A lot of people don't realize this, is that when we have our loan program, we help out not only businesses of all sizes, but homeowners, renters and nonprofits," he said. "During times of disaster, the largest arm of our recovery is actually to homeowners and renters."

Williams also encouraged residents who receive adverse loan decisions not to abandon the process.

"A no is never a final no," he said. "If you happen to be withdrawn, or if you happen to be declined, you have up to six months to apply for reinstatement of your loan if you're withdrawn, and up to six months to apply for reconsideration."

Debris removal
Recovery crews continue clearing debris left behind by the typhoon.

As of June 17, contractors and government crews had removed 71,583 cubic yards of debris across the commonwealth, including 38,709 cubic yards of vegetative debris, 18,922 cubic yards of construction and demolition debris, 13,952 cubic yards of metal debris and 198 cubic yards of household hazardous materials.

Twenty of Saipan's 36 debris-removal sectors had been completed, while three of four sectors on Tinian had been cleared.

Crews had also collected 5,854 white goods such as refrigerators, freezers, and other household appliances.

Power restoration
Electrical service continues to improve throughout the commonwealth.

As of June 19, approximately half of Saipan's 15,493 electrical customers had been restored to grid power. The island has 11,769 residential customers.

On Tinian, 755 of 1,059 electrical customers, or approximately 71%, had power restored as of June 21. Those restored customers include 540 residential, 159 commercial and 56 government accounts.

Temporary power missions also remain underway, with federal and local crews continuing to assess, install and remove generators as permanent utility service returns.

Fishing and food security
Beyond disaster recovery, government leaders are increasingly focused on long-term economic growth.

Gov. David M. Apatang recently welcomed President Donald J. Trump's proclamation reopening portions of the Mariana Trench Marine National Monument to commercial fishing.

"For generations, the people of the Northern Mariana Islands have relied on the ocean for sustenance, culture, and economic opportunity," he said.

"This proclamation acknowledges the importance of America's Pacific territories and supports opportunities for responsible fisheries development while maintaining strong conservation standards."

Apatang said the NMI shares common interests with other Pacific jurisdictions in supporting local fisheries, improving food security and creating economic opportunities tied to ocean resources.

Tourism recovery
Tourism officials are also working to rebuild the NMI's visitor economy following Sinlaku.

The Marianas Visitors Authority recently approved a $1.5 million agreement supporting Jeju Air's direct service between South Korea and Saipan through October.

According to MVA, South Korea remains the CNMI's largest visitor market, accounting for approximately 70% of visitor arrivals.

"The proposed support should be viewed as an economic stabilization and tourism recovery initiative designed to preserve critical air connectivity during this extraordinary recovery period," acting MVA managing director Judy C. Torres said.

MVA officials have warned that the loss of direct international air service could lead to reduced visitor arrivals, lower economic activity and additional hardship for tourism-dependent businesses. More than two months after Sinlaku struck the islands, federal aid, infrastructure restoration projects, and economic development initiatives continue to shape the NMI's recovery, with government leaders aiming to rebuild both essential services and the broader economy. mbj