Super Typhoon Sinlaku · CNMI · April 2026
APRIL 9
STORM — JTWC designates Tropical Depression 04W. 550 miles southeast of Guam. Sustained winds 30 mph.
APRIL 10
STORM — Winds 63 mph. Sea surface temperatures 28–29°C. Wind shear under 10 knots. Ocean heat content 125–150 kJ/cm².
MEDIA — DVIDS: Joint Region Marianas monitors Tropical Storm Sinlaku.
APRIL 11
STORM — Category 1. 85 mph. Northward track.
MEDIA — RNZ: CNMI and Guam make declarations as Tropical Storm Sinlaku intensifies.
APRIL 12, 18:00 UTC
STORM — Category 5. 185 mph sustained. 890 mb. Intensification of 75 mph in 24 hours.
MEDIA — Yale Climate Connections: Cat 5 Super Typhoon Sinlaku the 2nd-strongest typhoon so early in the year. CIMSS: 160-knot storm documented southeast of Saipan.
APRIL 13
STORM — Eyewall replacement cycle begins. 500 miles wide. 265 people in shelters on Saipan.
MEDIA — NASA: VIIRS imagery, 03:30 UTC. Washington Post: Super Typhoon Sinlaku is threatening the Western Pacific.
APRIL 14, 10:15 PM ChST
STORM — Landfall, northern Tinian. 145 mph sustained. Peak gust at Saipan airport: 130 mph. Red Cross sheltering 1,000+.
MEDIA — CNN: flash flood warnings for Guam, Saipan, Tinian. Al Jazeera: Super Typhoon Sinlaku bears down on Northern Mariana Islands. CBS/AP: "Objects are just flying left and right."
APRIL 15
STORM — Eye barely moved. Category 4, 130 mph. FEMA: flooding in Saipan hospital. Backup generators failing at resort buildings. Cargo vessel Mariana reports engine failure; Coast Guard establishes hourly contact.
MEDIA — NPR, 3:43 AM ET: Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounds remote U.S. islands. Updated 8:58 PM.
APRIL 16
STORM — 11,000+ homes without power across Saipan, Tinian, and Rota. Tropical-storm-force winds still crossing the commonwealth. Center 170 miles NW of Saipan, moving at 3 mph.
MEDIA — NPR: Typhoon Sinlaku batters Northern Mariana Islands. Grist: A 'super typhoon' just devastated the Mariana Islands — months before peak storm season.
APRIL 17
STORM — Hospital running on generators. Solar panels stripped from roof. Outpatient services under assessment. Power out islandwide. Contact lost with Mariana crew.
MEDIA —
APRIL 18
STORM — All-clear declared. More than fifty hours of destructive wind, ended. FEMA Regional Administrator Fenton: storm was 500 miles in diameter, took 48–72 hours to pass through.
MEDIA — Washington Post: US Coast Guard spots overturned vessel near Saipan.
APRIL 19
STORM — FEMA: Tinian 911 system down. Land mobile radio down. 35 cell sites offline on Saipan. Heat index mid-90s expected through the week. USACE installs three generators at water facilities. Saipan's 127 wells require electricity to pump.
MEDIA —
APRIL 20
STORM — "Last night there was no breeze. Everything is just so still." Governor Apatang: "Everybody's running around looking for diesel right now." Saipan business owner estimates two months to restore normal operations.
MEDIA — AP/PBS/Washington Post: search for six crew of cargo vessel Mariana. 75,000 square nautical miles covered. Partially inflated life raft found 95 nautical miles from the hull.
APRIL 21
STORM — Boil water notice across Saipan. VA clinic closed. Public transit limited to dialysis patients and prescription runs. 240 feet of road collapsed in Kagman; reconstruction required. FEMA: individual assistance requires a separate presidential major disaster declaration.
Declaration unsigned.
MEDIA —
APRIL 22
STORM — CNMI Homeland Security: "We don't have big and small tankers for fuel. We don't have medium tankers for water. We don't have the resources here." Six crew of the Mariana still missing. No update since April 20.
Declaration unsigned.
MEDIA —
New York Times, ABC News, BBC: no coverage found.
Things to follow up on...
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The unsigned disaster declaration: As of April 22, CNMI's request for a major disaster declaration sat on the president's desk, with DHS Secretary Mullin having signed off but no presidential signature announced — individual assistance grants to residents cannot begin without it.
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Six crew still missing: The 145-foot cargo vessel Mariana lost engine power on April 15 and contact was lost the next day; as of April 20, searchers from the U.S., Japan, and New Zealand had covered 75,000 square nautical miles with no update on the six crew since.
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FEMA funding in question: Grist reported that a congressional stalemate over DHS funding could constrain disaster relief availability for CNMI, arriving at the same moment the islands need it most.
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Infrastructure already strained: Sinlaku struck islands still recovering from Typhoon Mawar in 2023, and RNZ's ongoing Pacific coverage documents how pre-existing infrastructure fragility compounded every dimension of the current crisis.