Super Typhoon Haiyan Slams Philippines With Category-5 Power
This Thursday, Nov. 7, 2013 satellite image provided by the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration shows Typhoon Haiyan over the Philippines, at 22:30 UTC (5:30 p.m. EST). Haiyan, the world's strongest typhoon of the year, slammed into the Philippines early Friday. It had been poised to be the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded at landfall, a weather expert said. NOAA via AP Photo
By Brian K. Sullivan, Cecilia Yap & Joel Guinto - Nov 7, 2013 7:09 PM CT
Super Typhoon Haiyan, the equivalent of a Category 5 hurricane, slammed into the Philippines today after forcing thousands of people to evacuate.
Haiyan had top winds of almost 196 miles (315 kilometers) per hour when it was about 489 miles southeast of Manila, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center [ http://www.usno.navy.mil/NOOC/nmfc-ph/RSS/jtwc/warnings/wp3113web.txt ] said at 2 p.m. East Coast time [that advisory in the post to which this is a reply]. Winds gusted to as high as 235 mph, the Navy said. About 125,600 people in 22 provinces have been evacuated, the nation’s disaster monitoring agency said in a 6 a.m. bulletin.
“If it maintains its strength, there has never been a storm this strong making landfall anywhere in the world,” said Jeff Masters, founder of Weather Underground in Ann Arbor, Michigan. “This is off the charts.”
The storm went ashore at about 5 a.m. in Guiuan, eastern Samar, said the Philippines Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Twenty-one areas mostly on the island of Visayas, which suffered a 7.2-magnitude earthquake [ http://www.ndrrmc.gov.ph/attachments/article/1108/NDRRMC%20Update%20SitRep%20no.%2035%20re%20Effects%20of%20M7.2%20Bohol%20EQ,%203Nov2013,%206AM.pdf ] last month, are on highest storm alert. President Benigno Aquino, in a televised address last night, warned of serious danger and said Haiyan may cause more damage than storm Bopha, which killed more than 1,000 people in Mindanao in December.
The Philippines, battered by about 20 cyclones a year, was the nation most affected by natural disasters in 2012, with more than 2,000 people killed, according to the Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters [ http://cred.be/sites/default/files/ADSR_2012.pdf ].
Storm Surges
Monsoon rains swamped more than half of the Manila region in August, causing at least 27 deaths and shutting offices and financial markets for two days.
The nation’s financial markets will open today even as Bangko Sentral ng Pilipinas Deputy Governor Nestor Espenilla said “there’s a need to closely monitor” the situation.
Haiyan may inundate rivers, create mudflows and cause storm surges as high as 6 meters (20 feet), Aquino said. Three air force cargo planes, 2 navy ships, helicopters and relief boats are on standby, the president said. About 78,000 families were evacuated in Albay province, Governor Joey Salceda said on his Facebook account.
Masters said Tacloban, the capital of the Philippine province of Leyte, would take a direct hit and winds of at least 130 mph may sweep as far as 100 miles inland.
“There isn’t much built on the Philippines that can withstand winds like that,” Masters said.
Catastrophic Damage
Heavy rains from storms usually cause the highest death tolls on the Philippines, Masters said. Flooding may not be the worst threat this time because Haiyan is moving fairly fast. The high winds and storm surge have the potential to cause catastrophic damage, he said.
“We’re swamped with calls for help,” Southern Leyte Governor Roger Mercado said in an interview over DZMM radio. Strong wings uprooted trees in the province, he said.
About 2,000 passengers, 50 vessels and 557 rolling cargoes are now stranded in various seaports, the disaster agency said today. Cebu Air Inc. (CEB), the nation’s largest budget carrier, canceled 122 domestic flights and 4 international flights from today to Nov. 9, it said yesterday. Philippine Airlines Inc., in its Facebook account, said 26 local flights and three international flights have been canceled today.
Storm Records
The true power of Haiyan isn’t known because reconnaissance planes haven’t flown into it, Masters said. The strongest tropical cyclone on record was Super Typhoon Nancy in 1961 with top winds of 215 mph. He said many believe the estimated wind speeds of storms between the 1940s to 1960s was too high.
The strongest storm to hit land was Camille, which went ashore in Mississippi with winds near 195 mph, Master said. While there are some estimates that Camille’s winds were closer to 200 mph, the exact speed is unknown because the instruments were destroyed, according to the U.S. National Hurricane Center.
The Philippines government has placed relief supplies worth 195 million pesos ($4.5 million) in Samar and Leyte islands in the Visayas, Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma said in Manila yesterday.
After crossing the Philippines, Haiyan is expected to strike Vietnam in several days, according to the Japanese Meteorological Agency.
“It is going to be a huge problem for Vietnam and Laos,” Masters said. As much as a foot of rain may fall there, he said.
To contact the reporters on this story: Brian K. Sullivan in Boston at bsullivan10@bloomberg.net; Cecilia Yap in Manila at cyap19@bloomberg.net; Joel Guinto in Manila at jguinto1@bloomberg.net To contact the editor responsible for this story: Chua Baizhen at bchua14@bloomberg.net
Evacuations as Super Typhoon Haiyan hits Philippines
Date November 8, 2013 - 11:00AM 1410 reading now
Typhoon Haiyan pictured on a NOAA satellite handout image. Photo: Reuters
Manila: Thousands of people have been evacuated as Super Typhoon Haiyan makes landfall in the Philippines.
The typhoon is now the strongest storm on Earth in three decades, generating winds of 313km/h and gusts of 378km/h, a meteorologist at WFMY News in the US reported.
Ryan Maue, a meteorologist at WeatherBELL Analytics, said that Haiyan appears to be the strongest storm since Super Typhoon Tip in 1979.
Super Typhoon Haiyan is seen approaching the Philippines in this Japan Meteorological Agency handout image taken on Thursday. Photo: Reuters/Japan Meteorological Agency
Haiyan was expected to hit Samar island, about 600km south-east of Manila, then cut across the central and southern Philippines before exiting into the South China Sea late on Saturday.
Authorities warned more than 12 million people were at risk from Typhoon Haiyan.
Survivors of a deadly earthquake fled their tent shelters as the typhoon's approach triggered evacuations, shut schools and canceled flights.
In Cebu, where 12 died after a 7.2-magnitude earthquake hit the Visayas island on October 15, about 200 families have fled their homes, the local government information office said in a posting on Twitter.
Forced evacuation is ongoing in the northern part of the province of Bohol, where 209 people were killed by the earthquake, the Philippine Information Agency said on Twitter.
The typhoon, which was advancing with a giant, 600km front, was expected to hit areas still recovering from a deadly 2011 storm and a 7.1-magnitude quake last month.
A local official in Bohol said at least 5000 people were still living in tents while waiting for new homes.
The Philippines, battered by about 20 cyclones a year, was most affected in the world by natural disasters in 2012 with more than 2000 deaths, according to a report by the Brussels-based Centre for Research on the Epidemiology of Disasters. Monsoon rains swamped more than half of the Metro Manila region in August, killing at least 27 and shutting offices and financial markets for two days.
Tropical cyclone Usagi had winds as strong as 215 kilometres per hour and maximum gusts of 250 kilometres per hour when it hit the Batanes islands in northern Philippines in September. Haiyan could intensify and surpass Usagi as the strongest to hit the Philippines in 2013, weather reports said.
The nation's highest storm alert of 4 may be raised as Haiyan moves closer, with winds strong enough to topple as much as 80 per cent of trees on its path, flatten rice fields, rip off roofs and bring down small houses and electric posts.
"We urge the public to heed our warnings," Communications Secretary Sonny Coloma told reporters in Manila. "Don't wait for danger to become imminent before evacuating."
The government has put in place relief supplies worth 195 million pesos ($4.8 million) in Samar and Leyte islands in the Visayas where Haiyan is forecast to land first tomorrow, Coloma said.
Typhoon Ketsana killed more than 400 people when it swamped Manila and parts of Luzon in 2009. Storm Washi killed more than 1200 people, mostly in Mindanao, in December 2011. At least 222 died in the October 15 earthquake in the Visayas.
Among the strongest typhoons to have crossed the Philippines is Storm Durian in 2006 with gusts as strong as 320km/h, according to the weather bureau.
The world's strongest storm of the year has battered the central Philippines across a 600-kilometre front, killing at least four people and forcing millions of people to flee to safer ground.
Still at typhoon strength, Haiyan is expected to make landfall near Hue in central Vietnam around lunchtime local time on Sunday.
Super Typhoon Haiyan, known as Yolanda in the Philippines, smashed into the central island of Samar early on Friday morning, packing sustained winds of up to 315 kilometres per hour, causing widespread damage.
"There is about three to four million people who are going to be affected by this typhoon, and that's a conservative estimate." Carin van der Hor, country director of Plan International Philippines
The Manila-based regional head of the United Nations' Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, David Carden, is hearing of widespread damage.
"We've heard reports of storm surges as high as the second storey of houses," he said.
Communications and power are down in several provinces.
Authorities are still trying to make contact with some of the worst-hit areas.
The UNOCHA's David Carden says damage to infrastructure and continuing winds may delay any assistance.
"The response is hampered by the fact airports, seaports are damaged," he said.
"We understand that some of the airport's damage has been to the radar, so flights will only be able to come during the day."
The head of the Philippines Red Cross, Gwendolyn Pang, has told Radio Australia's Asia Pacific .. http://www.radioaustralia.net.au/asiapac .. even those who have sought emergency shelter are still at risk.
"Even people in evacuation centres, we are not quite sure if they're safe because the wind is very strong," she said.
"We have seen in the previous disasters - especially typhoons - still evacuation centres are not really safe for the people.
"We're trying our best to continue to monitor the situation... but it's so huge, so big."
Carin van den Hor, country director of Plan International Philippines, says her agency has aid workers in the typhoon's path.
She says people are evacuating to higher ground but "there is almost nowhere to go because the (typhoon's) diameter is 600 kilometres."
"There is about three to four million people who are going to be affected by this typhoon, and that's a conservative estimate," she said.
On Bohol island 5,000 people living in tents after they lost their homes in a magnitude 7.2 earthquake last month are in temporary shelters.
Lionel Dosdos, from the the International Organization for Migration, says power is down across the island and the streets are deserted in the regional capital Tagbilaran.
At least 1,000 people on an island off Masbate province have been marooned by stormy weather and large waves reaching seven metres high.
Schools in the capital Manila have been closed and university classes cancelled.
A 'super typhoon' is one in which the wind speeds are twice as powerful as the point at which a storm becomes a typhoon.
Bopha, last year's strongest storm, flattened three coastal towns on the southern island of Mindanao, killing 1,100 people.
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