CADEN HAYNOR / NEWS EDITOR

In 2018, Gerald Deleon Guerrero, now a junior at USD, looked up and through his house to see that his roof was ripped away by the 180 mph winds that terrorized the Northern Mariana Islands in Category 5 Super Typhoon Yutu.

Deleon Guerrero explained what it’s  like    to  live  through  Typhoon  Yutu.

“Recently, we had another super typhoon in  similar  conditions:  heavy wind, heavy rain and my roof flew, like I didn’t have a roof on a portion of my house,” Deleon Guerrero said. “Witnessing that experience really traumatized me, and traumatized my family. My dad actually works for the Emergency Management Office and during that time, since we didn’t  have  my  dad there, it was just me and my mom and my siblings.”

Deleon Guerrero and   Jill  Mallari, also a USD junior, are both from Saipan, located in the U.S. territory the Northern Mariana Islands. Mallari described her experience living through Category 5 Super Typhoon Yutu, which occurred in 2018­ ­— the most powerful storm on U.S. soil since 1935, with sustained winds reaching up to 180 mph.

“We didn’t have electricity for two months straight,” Mallari said. “Our school was completely blown away. Currently, we only have one community  college on  the island  and, because they were still building it at  the  time,   classes  were  being  held in tents… I vividly  remember having to line up for clean gallons of water at 5 a.m.every week. We had food stamps,  which we also had to line up  for  five   hours   for  days on end.”

Deleon Guerrero and Mallari are  running  a disaster  relief  drive  to aid  those  affected  by the  Category 5  Super Typhoon Sinlaku that struck the  Northern Mariana Islands  and  Guam   from  April   13-17. 

This typhoon is the strongest storm this year, with winds reaching up to 175-185 mph. The typhoon hit Saipan, Tinian and other surrounding islands particularly hard.

As a result, many residents currently lack clean, running water, electricity, food and other essentials. Recovery and aid from the U.S. military and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) are  underway,  but  working slowly. Local  and diaspora-led efforts, such as student drives, are filling urgent gaps as recovery continues from the storm.

Deleon Guerrero and  Mallari are running a two-week donation drive to  send  supplies to the  affected islands via the foundation, “Sons and Daughters of Guam.” The USD students  are  also accepting  monetary donations through GoFundMe, which can go directly to families and local organizers in the area.

On-campus donation bins are at SLP 418, SLP 119 and Mata’yuum Crossroads.

Since water and electricity is severely affected in many areas, those looking to donate should contribute basic necessities including canned goods, power banks, batteries, flashlights, shampoo, conditioner soaps, cleaning wipes, diapers and cleaning supplies. 

Deleon Guerrero explained the importance of spreading awareness about this natural disaster and the affected areas.

“The intention of the drive is to not only  have people give physical items or give monetarily, but also to spread the word,” Deleon Guerrero said. “So even if you can’t give anything, the fact that you’re aware and you can share it with others is so good. At the end of the day, the intention is to spread awareness because we’re a U.S. territory so we know we’re not really covered in the media. It is nice to know that people  are aware that this is happening because oftentimes we are forgotten.”

Typhoon season normally occurs from August to November. However, some experts attribute the disaster’s early arrival, fueled by warm waters from the Pacific Ocean to the widespread effects of climate change. 

Mallari reflected on the consequences of this disaster and appreciates the support from the USD community.

“This affects all of us eventually,” Mallari said. “Earth Day was just the other day and people are very big on celebrating our Earth, but they don’t really think about the consequences of what we are contributing to, especially when we’re not getting hit by a typhoon over here… I think education goes a long way, so the fact that we’re able to talk about it and know that this affects all of us is so important. Just knowing that groups are supporting us and sharing our story means a lot.”

The donation drive is set to end on May 4,  when  the  organizers plan to package each item and donate them to the Sons and Daughters  of  Guam  Club in tandem with  Inafa’maolek  Mutual Aid Organization, which are collecting  for the broader San Diego area. These organizations plan  to  drive  the  items  up  to  a large  container in  Long Beach that will be   filled  with  donations to send directly to  the  affected islands.