Volunteers stage in Hawaii ahead of Typhoon Bavi relief efforts

HONOLULU (HawaiiNewsNow) – After Super Typhoon Bavi whipped through the northwestern Pacific over the weekend, volunteers with the American Red Cross are preparing to provide aid.

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Traveling through Hawaii for a quicker connection, volunteer Deborah Blaze is among a handful of volunteers staying in Oahu as they await flights to the Northern Mariana Islands. Airport closures have delayed the timeline for volunteers headed to the archipelago.

Blaze is returning to the islands after joining Red Cross relief efforts in the aftermath of another Super Typhoon, Sinlaku, which caused an estimated $1.5 billion in damages there in April.

“The people are so phenomenal. That’s the reason I wanted to go back because I was in Saipan. I was managing a shelter and we became like a family,” Blaze recalled.

Sinlaku claimed 17 lives and displaced thousands, making it the deadliest storm in Micronesia since 2002.

When asked to describe the storm’s devastation, Blaze said, “It was like, it was like a post-war scenario when we first got there. All the trees are ripped off and houses are destroyed.”

As the islands continued to recover, Bavi whipped through the Northern Mariana Islands over the weekend with winds as high as 180 miles an hour.

“We had over a thousand people in the shelter. And when I talked to those residents, a lot of them said, you know, we’ll be back tonight,” Red Cross volunteer Peter Teahen said.

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Teahen has been in Saipan since before Bavi’s arrival and drove around the island to assess damage Monday afternoon after a mandated lockdown was lifted.

Because Sinlaku left so much destruction, Teahen said it is unclear what Bavi left behind, adding the damages are, “just not obvious from, you know, just driving down the street. It was a common phrase that I heard. ‘We just have to clean up again.’ You can kind of hear the exhaustion in there.”

To ease the burden on those impacted, hundreds of Red Cross volunteers provided shelter, meals and supplies after Sinlaku and will do so again when it’s safe.

“I get a sense of a very positive culture here and very private culture that, they know that they’re going to have to take care of themselves, but they will need the help of the Red Cross,” Teahen said.

Aubry Hocog, mayor of Rota, an island hit hard by Bavi, told Hawaii News Now, “A lot of our utility poles have been damaged especially in the Songsong area and so really there’s going to be a lot of work that we are going to have to do, but we’re ready for that. I know that our people are concerned, our people are scared, our people are worried, but I know that by working together, communicating with each other, being transparent, that we can overcome this.”

Click here if you want to donate to the Red Cross’ relief efforts. You can also call 1-800-RED CROSS (800-733-2767) or text the word REDCROSS to 90999.

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If you want to become a volunteer, more information is available here.