Story by MC2 Kelsey Hockenberger, Commander, Task Force 75
TINIAN, Commonwealth of The Northern Mariana Islands Seabees assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion (NMCB) 1, Det. Guam, continue recovery work on Tinian in the wake of Super Typhoon Yutu.
Commander Task Force 75 Sailors have provided Defense Support of Civil Authorities (DSCA) to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' civil and local officials as part of Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) Yutu recovery efforts since Oct. 25.
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Builder 3rd Class Aurora Morales, from Los Angeles, and Builder 3rd Class Jesse Martinez, from Omaha, Neb., both assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1, Detachment Guam, apply tie wire to a damaged fence at Tinian Elementary School during recovery efforts, Nov, 14. (Photo by MC2 Kelsey J. Hockenberger)
The Naval Construction Force is trained and equipped to quickly respond to natural disasters and we were able to deploy quickly from Guam in order to support cleanup efforts on Tinian, said Commander, Task Group 75.5 Capt. Steve Stasick. I am very proud of NMCB 1 for all their hard work and dedication to be the first unit on the ground providing initial recovery response.
Strong rain and destructive winds of up to 180 mph from Yutu had uprooted trees, downed power lines and tore metal sheeting off roofs of homes, stores and public buildings.
Sailors assisted with clearing roofs and installing new beams and metal roofing sheets during emergency temporary roofing to 24 structures with four more ongoing. These structures included homes and Tinian Elementary School. Along with emergency temporary roofing NMCB-1 conducted debris removal of over 160-thousand cubic feet of debris, across 62 miles of roads.
With weeks of efforts in clearing and building, NMCB-1 continues to have a long-lasting positive effect on the local community.
We remain committed to helping our neighbors on Tinian and continue to work with FEMA to develop a plan to turn over long term recovery efforts to local and federal authorities when the time is right, said Stasick.
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A sign hangs on the railings of a home on Veterans Day. Service members from Joint Region Marianas and U.S. Indo-Pacific Command are providing Department of Defense support to the Commonwealth of the Northern Mariana Islands' civil and local officials as part of the Federal Emergency Management Agency-supported Super Typhoon Yutu recovery efforts, Nov, 14. (Photo by MC2 Kelsey J. Hockenberger)
DSCA provides an immediate response by temporarily employing Department of Defense resources to save lives, alleviate human suffering, or mitigate property damage within the United States and its territories.
NMCB-1, Det. Guam, provides task-tailored, adaptable, and combat effective engineering and construction forces that deploy to support Naval objectives globally and enable logistics for distributed Fleet operations.
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Builder 3rd Class William Mathis, from Ragland, Ala., and Builder 2nd Class Anthony DeSalvo, from Savona, N.Y., both assigned to Naval Mobile Construction Battalion 1, Detachment Guam, measure purlins on the roof of Tinian Elementary School during recovery efforts, Nov, 14. (Photo by MC2 Kelsey J. Hockenberger)
CTF 75 is the primary expeditionary task force responsible for the planning and execution of coastal riverine operations, explosive ordnance disposal, diving engineering and construction, and underwater construction in the U.S. 7th Fleet area of operations.
For more information visit http://www.c7f.navy.mil/, www.navy.mil/, and https://www.public.navy.mil/seabee/Pages/default.aspx.