Typhoon Sinlaku closed a group of remote US territories in the western Pacific Ocean, bringing strong winds, thunderstorms and widespread flooding as it blocked the northern Marianas Islands, forecasters said. The storm initially arrived as a major typhoon – with the potential to develop anywhere in the world by 2026 – before weakening slightly.
Sinlaku’s inner eye came ashore in the Marianas Islands of Tinian and Saipan around 10:15 p.m. local time Tuesday, which was 8:15 a.m. ET, according to the National Weather Service office in Guam.
The storm was packing winds of 150 mph, equivalent to a strong Category 4, hours after landfall, the weather service said. But it weakened a bit after that, with winds dropping to 145 mph. Sinlaku was then downgraded from a major storm to a typhoon.
Heavy flooding has already been reported in some areas, with Saipan Mayor Ramon “RB” Jose Blas Camacho telling the Associated Press that Sinlaku was “hitting us hard.”
Glen Hunter/AP
“It is very difficult for us to respond to this heavy rain, strong wind to rescue people,” said the mayor. “Things are flying left and right.”
Camacho told the AP that some people were rescued, while the typhoon toppled trees and destroyed wooden and tile buildings.
A video shared by the AP before the typhoon’s landfall showed its early impact on Saipan, as Sinlaku moved along the coast, unleashing strong winds and rain toward the island. Before making landfall, the storm had been “almost stationary” about 30 miles off the coast of the islands for several hours, forecasters indicated. Its slowness has raised concerns about how long the storm will last in the area, and the amount of damage it could cause.
Nikki Nolan/CBS News 
Home to three US military bases and about 170,000 people, Guam was spared the brunt of the storm. However, wind gusts peaked at 88 mph Tuesday night on the island — with consistent gusts between 70 and 80 mph recorded throughout the night, according to the National Weather Service. Tropical-storm-force winds were forecast to continue through Wednesday afternoon, according to the Guam Joint Information Center.
“Despite the near-term delay, damaging winds will continue across the island, threatening public safety, infrastructure, and power lines,” the agency said in an advisory, urging people to stay indoors and stay out of the water.
The Guam Department of Education closed schools on Tuesday and Wednesday, and the information center said it will remain closed until the governor declares that conditions are safe for classes to resume. The agency also said Guam’s water authority was “aware of multiple power outages throughout the island as a result of the major storm.”
NOAA via AP 
Typhoon warnings are still in effect for the Marianas islands of Rota, Tinian, Saipan, Alamagan, Pagan and Agrihan ahead of the typhoon’s arrival, according to the weather service. Guam remained under a tropical storm warning and hurricane watch, the weather service said.
In the Pacific Southwest, “hurricane” is used to describe a tropical storm that forecasters would call a hurricane in the US. When a hurricane’s strongest winds reach over 150 mph, it becomes a “major hurricane.”
Sinlaku’s maximum wind speed reached 180 mph as the typhoon moved over the open sea on Sunday, making it the strongest typhoon to occur so far this year, after typhoons Narelle and Dudzai.
A modified hurricane eyewall
Before its strength began to sink, Sinlaku was so strong as a super typhoon that it replaced the eyewall, CBS News meteorologist Nikki Nolan said. Radar data shows that this trend occurred sometime in the past 24 hours, while the main hurricane at the time was tracking near Mariana.
Eyewall replacement cycles are often seen in very strong tropical storms. In the case of Sinlaku, a new eyewall forms around the original, causing the original to fold in on itself and grow in size. Nolan said this hurricane was a “self-burning process,” and the process caused it to weaken and downgrade to a Category 4 storm.
