{"id":44740,"date":"2018-09-13T18:37:44","date_gmt":"2018-09-13T18:37:44","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/uncategorized\/2018\/09\/13\/overshadowed-by-florence-navy-and-marines-race-to-save-typhoon-ravaged-rota\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T20:05:34","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T20:05:34","slug":"overshadowed-by-florence-navy-and-marines-race-to-save-typhoon-ravaged-rota","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/navytimes\/news\/your-navy\/2018\/09\/13\/overshadowed-by-florence-navy-and-marines-race-to-save-typhoon-ravaged-rota\/","title":{"rendered":"Overshadowed by Florence, Navy and Marines race to save typhoon-ravaged Rota"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

With Hurricane Florence poised to punish military bases in the Carolinas and southern Virginia, efforts by the armed forces to respond to storms on the other side of the world got overlooked.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

But in the Northern Marianas Islands, sailors and Marines began rescue and recovery operations on Rota Wednesday morning, hours after Typhoon Mangkhut<\/a> ravaged it.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Commanded by Navy Rear Adm. Brad Cooper, Task Force 76 <\/a>executed a brilliant bit of seamanship as Mangkhut barreled west toward Guam, Saipan, Tinian and Rota, scooting just beyond the reach of its powerful winds and waves and then tucking the warships behind it to trail in the typhoon\u2019s wake.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cWe safely and aggressively positioned ourselves behind the typhoon, so as soon as it passed we were able to respond,\u201d Cooper told Navy Times early Thursday local time from the bridge of the Wasp, his amphibious flagship.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Before sunrise on Tuesday, Cooper\u2019s Wasp, the amphibious assault ship Ashland<\/a> and the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit were off the coast of Guam, launching what would grow to more than 200 helicopter and tiltrotor aircraft sorties.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They ferried teams to survey the damage; military leaders to coordinate efforts with federal and Northern Marianas officials; and troops to unload supplies.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Because there\u2019s already a large contingent of Coast Guard, Navy and Air Force personnel on Guam, Cooper concentrated recovery efforts on nearby Tinian, Saipan and Rota.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cYou could clearly see where the damage was, right out of the gate, because the eye rolled right over Rota,\u201d said Cooper.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When Cooper, 31st MEU commander Col. Robert \u201cBams\u201d Brodie and other military leaders landed there, they quickly established communications with the task force.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was no electricity, the hospital was damaged and the water works lacked pressure.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

By early Thursday in Rota, the task force had the hospital working and tap water flowing to residents. Half of the island now has electricity.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

More than 100 Marines continue to clear debris from streets, a Navy medical team is treating patients and crews continue to unload water and food.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Other Marines and Navy Seabees have stormed Rota\u2019s sister island, Tinian, to help residents dig out.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Marine Air Control Group 18 and Seabees with the 30th Naval Construction Regiment clear debris Thursday on Tinian. (Marine Corps)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Although Rota unfortunately bore the brunt of Mangkhut, it got lucky during the recovery phase.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That\u2019s because Cooper\u2019s amphibious task force not only was already off the coast of Guam for the biennial Valiant Shield <\/a>maneuvers but his Marines and sailors recently finished a major humanitarian relief training exercise on Okinawa.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt was just a matter of weeks ago. That focused the team on how to respond,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Federal Emergency Management Agency is spearheading all recovery operations in the Northern Marianas and the Ronald Reagan Carrier Strike Group is sailing nearby with extra helicopter support if necessary, but it\u2019s been the Navy and Marines helping with the muscle.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis will go on as long as FEMA said it requires our support,\u201d Cooper said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The initial Navy plan was to clear debris from the beaches so that the task force could launch utility and air-cushioned landing craft to haul supplies to shore but the Coast Guard has greenlighted the commercial ports on Rota and Tinian to open.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In a written statement emailed to Navy Times, officials in Guam said that cutter Sequoia returned there on Thursday from the Northern Marianas and declared ports and navigation conditions are safe enough for supplies to flow to the piers.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Coast Guard cutter Sequoia returned to Guam Thursday after surveying ports and navigation conditions on storm-ravaged Tinian and Rota. Ports are now open to handle the flow of relief supplies. (Petty Officer 1st Class Makenzi Austin \/Coast Guard)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Pacific Command in Hawaii has postponed Valiant Shield while Cooper\u2019s task force toils to help the Northern Marianas recover, but the storm continues to trundle west.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Guzzling the warm waters of the Western Pacific, it\u2019s ballooned into Super Typhoon Mangkhut, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Packing winds higher than 201 miles per hour and driving waves 50 feet high, the eye of the storm is about 500 miles west of Manila moving west-northwestward on a trajectory likely to tear across the northern Philippines, destroying rice crops and pancaking houses in a rural region that\u2019s home to 10 million residents.<\/p>\n\n\n\t