Greensboro airlifts relief supplies to storm-ravaged Saipan and Tinian

Greensboro became the launch point for Samaritan’s Purse’s latest Pacific airlift as the relief group prepared a company-operated 767 cargo plane to depart at 2 a.m. Wednesday with emergency shelter materials, solar lights and medical supplies bound for Saipan and Tinian.

Franklin Graham and former Australian Prime Minister Scott Morrison were present for the send-off, as the organization asked for prayers for residents hit by Typhoon Sinlaku. The storm struck the Northern Mariana Islands on Tuesday, April 15, and Samaritan’s Purse described it as the strongest tropical cyclone of the year. Saipan and Tinian were the hardest-hit islands.

The damage was severe. Samaritan’s Purse said Sinlaku ripped roofs off homes, caused flooding across the islands, and damaged roads, hospitals and power grids. The group said some hard-hit areas could be without power and water for weeks. Graham said thousands were in desperate need of emergency relief, with many still without water and power. Nearly 50,000 people live on the affected islands, according to the organization.

The Greensboro departure put Guilford County at the center of a long-distance response that will move aid directly into the storm zone and then, in some cases, onward from Saipan to Tinian. Samaritan’s Purse said it had already begun coordinating with local partners in the Northern Mariana Islands after the storm, a step meant to speed distribution once the aircraft reaches the Pacific.

The response also carried a familiar historical echo. Samaritan’s Purse previously went to Saipan and Tinian after Typhoon Yutu in 2018, helping more than 7,600 families recover. By using Greensboro as the departure point again, the group linked local aviation logistics to a disaster zone more than 7,000 miles away, with the goal of getting shelter, light and medical help to residents still dealing with the storm’s aftermath.