Return of the Flame Trees

Japan has her cherry blossoms. Australia has her Jacaranda.  Saipan has her Flame Trees.

We arrived in Saipan just in time for their annual Flame Tree festival.  Multiple artisan tents and a stage were set up beachside.  Cultural performances, food, shops and art were all in display for the community to share.  The only thing missing was the star of the show, the Flame Trees.

This time of year, the flame trees are usually in full bloom.  The video above shows them in all their glory just a few years ago.  Their bright red flowers make the mountains of the Northern Mariana Islands look like they're on fire.  However, on October 25th 2018, the island of Saipan and neighboring island, Tinian, suffered a direct hit from Typhoon Yutu.  It was the worst storm to hit US soil since 1935.  The damage and the aftermath weren't highly covered by US mainstream media unfortunately because many mainlanders don't even realize that these islands are part of the US.

Along with over 3000 homes destroyed and $200M damage, many of the flame trees were laid bare.  In fact, the first thing I noticed about Saipan upon leaving the airport was the amount of damage still visible from the typhoon that happened over 6 months ago.  They are still cleaning up.  We drove by one tree that had a large corregated tin sheet from someone's rooftop wrapped and tangled around the top limbs of a tree.  There was so much damage.

I had to look hard, but after driving around the island I was able to see a few flame tree flowers in bloom.  Seeing these flowers and watching the islanders celebrate the Flame Tree festival was promising.  Just like the blossoms of the flame trees, the community will rebuild and continue to grow.