By Red Cross volunteer Amanda MacGurn

When Super Typhoon Sinlaku hit the Mariana Islands in mid-April, 2026, the island Saipan sustained particularly extreme damage. The U.S. Federal Emergency Management Agency –FEMA— estimated the cost of damage spanning the Northern Mariana Islands to exceed $1 billion. On Saipan alone, the storm destroyed more than 1500 homes and severely impacted critical infrastructure, such as water and power.

Red Cross promptly deployed hundreds of volunteers to help bridge the lapse in basic services and provide shelter to the islands’ residents. Among those who met the call was Jim Court, a Red Cross Cascades volunteer and retired firefighter, who landed in Saipan in the week following the typhoon to do damage assessment and gauge how best the Red Cross could mitigate the storm’s damage. Jim quickly found himself wearing multiple hats, establishing shelters, assessing the extent of the damage, and distributing food and supplies to island residents in some of the more remote corners of the island.

Jim was struck upon arrival by the extent of the damage, noting the flooded airport and downed trees, with homes completely demolished. The super typhoon left the island, previously a lush jungle, “brown and broken.” Amid the devastation, the first wave of volunteers set to work. The first order of business for the Red Cross was to get people into functioning, safe shelters. Over the following days and weeks, hundreds of people sought refuge in the 9 evacuation shelters the Red Cross established, supporting over 15,000 overnight stays by mid-May. Jim worked alongside other volunteers to establish viable sheltering spaces, buying food and supplies for the shelters and then venturing across the island three times a day to bring food and water to community members not staying in shelters. While doing these deliveries, he took the opportunity to raise awareness about the shelters and the services they offered, while also learning more about the most pressing needs of the island residents. 

The deployment was a challenging one, and Jim witnessed a lot of emotions— among those most impacted by the typhoon as well as the volunteers who worked tirelessly in challenging circumstances. In the end, however, Jim made a lot of friends—especially with children in the shelters. He also recruited local teenagers to help clean up garbage, ultimately becoming buddies with them too. “The people were great,” Jim said. “They were very receptive to us— very kind, very thankful.” The Red Cross reached more than 21,000 people with disaster relief and recovery services following Super Typhoon Sinlaku.

The work is far from over as recovery efforts by island residents and partners continue into the foreseeable future, but Red Cross volunteers like Jim will be there at every step of the way.