May be December before CNMI's Saipan fully re-connected

While power to the Northern Marianas hospital and some businesses has been reconnected after Typhoon Soudelor, the rest of Saipan may have to wait more than two months.

With the help of private groups from Guam and public utility crews from Palau and the Federal States of Micronesia, the Commonwealth Utility Corporation has now installed about 200 power poles out of the more than 800 downed by the storm more than 4 weeks ago.

The utility says with some luck the grid could be restored to pre-Soudelor conditions by November but manager Gary Camacho says it could be into December.