Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounds remote US islands in the Pacific Ocean with ferocious winds

A super typhoon with ferocious winds and relentless rains was battering a group of remote U.S. islands in the Pacific Ocean, forcing residents to seek shelter from flying tree limbs and collapsed buildings.

The center of the Super Typhoon Sinlaku pounded the Northern Mariana Islands early Wednesday, the National Weather Service said.

It's the strongest tropical typhoon on Earth so far this year and was packing sustained winds of up to 150 mph (240 kph) that were likely to bring widespread power outages to the islands, home to roughly 50,000 people.

Some areas already were seeing extensive flooding.

“It’s hitting us hard,” Mayor Ramon “RB” Jose Blas Camacho of Saipan, told The Associated Press late Tuesday. “It’s so difficult for us to respond with this heavy rain, heavy wind to rescue people. Objects are just flying left and right.”

Camacho said some people have been rescued. He said trees were thrown about and wooden and tin structures had collapsed. He said he hoped the glass door to his office doesn't break.

“It’s already bending. That’s how powerful this is,” he said.

Farther south, in Guam, a U.S. territory with several U.S. military installations and about 170,000 residents, tropical force winds and torrential rainfall were leading to flash flooding, the weather service said.

The monster storm slowed to a crawl as it approached the islands, raising fears that the fierce winds won’t go away quickly and worsen its impact.

“This is not going to be an easy night for anyone across Tinian or Saipan. This is going to be a loud night,” said Landon Aydlett, a meteorologist with the weather service. Many “will wake up to a different island,” he said during a Facebook video broadcast.

Saipan is the largest of the Northern Mariana Islands. The worst of the storm was hitting hit during darkness and was expected to last for hours until at least daybreak Wednesday, the weather service said.

Camacho was concerned about the slow speed of the storm.

“That’s the scary part, ” He said, saying “it's better to speed up so it can just exit.”

About 50,000 people live on the Northern Mariana Islands, with most on Saipan, known for its laid-back resorts, snorkeling and golf as well as the capital.

While it’s expected to weaken slightly over the next few days, Sinlaku was crossing the islands as a Category 4 typhoon.

In Guam, where Typhoon Mawar knocked out power for days in 2023, U.S. military officials warned personnel to shelter in place. The military controls about one-third of the land on the island, a critical hub for U.S. forces in the Pacific.

Before turning toward Guam and the Northern Marianas, the storm left significant damage to the outer islands and atolls of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, Aydlett said from his weather service station on Guam.

Glen Hunter, who grew up on Saipan, has weathered numerous typhoons.

“We sit in what they call ‘Typhoon Alley,’” he said early Tuesday after waking up to strong gusts and seeing downed trees.

For the most part, residents live in sturdy, fully concrete homes and those in substandard wooden houses with tin roofs tend to stay with family or in government shelters, he said.

Tourism-dependent Saipan — the site of one of World War II’s bloodiest battles in the Pacific — was still recovering from 2018's Super Typhoon Yutu when the coronavirus pandemic hit in 2020, he said. The economy has yet to rebound, Hunter said.

President Donald Trump has approved emergency disaster declarations for Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, allowing for additional help with emergency services.

The Federal Emergency Management Agency said it was coordinating support across multiple agencies, dispatching nearly 100 FEMA staff as well as other personnel.

A super typhoon is a name given to the strongest tropical cyclones. Monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Guam, super typhoons are the equivalent of Category 4 or 5 hurricanes in the Atlantic, with winds of at least 150 mph (240 kph). There have been more than 300 super typhoons identified over the past 80 years.

Typhoons and super typhoons are “very common” in the Pacific, but the peak season is similar to the Atlantic hurricane season, which runs from summer to fall, said Jason Nicholls, AccuWeather’s lead international forecaster.

“As we’ve seen this year, you can get tropical systems in the West Pacific any time of year,” Nicholls said. “But getting them in April is a little unusual.”

Associated Press reporters Gabriela Aoun Angueira in San Diego; Jennifer Sinco Kelleher in Honolulu and Seth Borenstein in Washington contributed to this report.

This satellite image provided by the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA) shows super typhoon Sinlakua in the Pacific Ocean, Monday, April 13, 2026. (NOAA via AP)

OTTAWA, Kan. (AP) — A day after severe storms damaged communities in the Plains and the Midwest, forecasters warned that storms could bring giant hail, tornadoes and severe wind gusts to the regions again on Tuesday afternoon and evening.

Authorities in Kansas reported several people with minor injuries after storms passed through on Monday. Three people were left with minor injuries in rural Franklin County, about 50 miles (80 kilometers) southwest of Kansas City, according to the sheriff’s office. In the town of Ottawa, officials said there was structural damage, but no deaths or injuries. A National Weather Service survey team will assess damage in the Ottawa area on Tuesday to determine whether a tornado passed through there, according to Chelsea Picha, a meteorologist with the weather service’s office in Topeka.

In neighboring Miami County, two people reported minor injuries, several homes were destroyed and recreational vehicles and campers were overturned, according to the sheriff’s office. Power lines were de-energized in Hillsdale until cleanup could be safely completed, the sheriff’s office said.

Three tornadoes touched down in southern Minnesota, where some damage to farms was reported, according to Jake Beitlich, a meteorologist in the Twin Cities office. There were also reports of baseball-sized hail that caused damage to vehicles in the area, he said.

A tornado touched down near Gilman, a village of about 380 people in northwestern Wisconsin, said Jeff Boyne, a meteorologist in the National Weather Service’s La Crosse, Wisconsin, office, but he said the damage was minor. The weather service was still working to determine the tornado’s rating. The storms peeled the roof off a manufactured home in Steuben, a village of about 120 people in southwestern Wisconsin, he said, but there have been no reports of any injuries in the state.

A number of schools around the Madison area were forced to close Tuesday morning due to lack of power. More than 25,000 customers were without power in Wisconsin on Tuesday morning, according to poweroutage.us.

Forecasters warned of significant river and small stream flooding expected through the end of the week in the Upper Great Lakes with the heaviest rainfall expected overnight into Wednesday with scattered flash flooding.

In Michigan, Gov. Gretchen Whitmer declared a state of emergency Friday at the Cheboygan Lock and Dam Complex as record snowfall in March and the recent rain have elevated water levels. More pumps were being added to help push water toward Lake Huron on Monday. As of 7 a.m. Tuesday, the water level was 7.68 inches (19.5 centimeters) below the top of the structure, according to a state website.

Lightning flashes as a thunderstorm passes in the distance Monday, April 13, 2026, in Lenexa, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Lightning flashes beyond an apartment building as a thunderstorm passes in the distance Monday, April 13, 2026, in Lenexa, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)

Lightning flashes beyond an office building as a thunderstorm passes in the distance, Monday, April 13, 2026, in Lenexa, Kan. (AP Photo/Charlie Riedel)