UPDATE: Time to Reflect on Typhoon Haiyan

11 days have now passed since the typhoon hit the Philippines on November 8th. Aid is beginning to come in from many countries around the world, most notably the United States, Britain, and Australia, and attempts to estimate the damage of the storm is underway. It is estimated that the storm has killed or has left missing more than 5,000 people and displaced an estimated 4 MILLION PEOPLE! This was not your average typhoon.

Even now, due to the enormous amount of clean-up yet to be done, it is difficult to get aid to people inland who are in dire need of assistance. Transportation systems in some areas are essentially shut down and people are without food and clean water in areas that are the hardest to reach. This typhoon, although it was properly forecast and the Philippine Government made attempts to evacuate some of its citizens, the storm was massive in power and scope. The storm itself was historic. Experts including those at NASA have concluded that it may have been the most powerful tropical cyclone to ever make landfall. EVER!

The storm's width was 370 miles wide and contained sustained winds of 195 mph and gusts were reaching 235 mph. There was a 17 foot high storm surge in the heavily populated city of Tacloban and 27 inches of rain fell as a result of the storm. Some of these numbers are unfathomable. Relief efforts are underway and the time for reflection has started, even as some are waiting with little to no aid reaching them. Did the government do everything it could to protect its people from this storm? Why were thousands still living in unsafe, temporary housing structures as the storm approached? Why were so few people evacuated from the area? I do not know if we should start placing blame on the Philippine Government at this time when millions of people are still in need of help but one thing is for sure, we will be talking about extensively about this storm and the impact that it has had for a long, long time.

Take a few minutes and listen to an National Public Radio (NPR) story that shows hazard mitigation at work as NPR's Christopher Joyce reports on if displaced Filipino's should rebuild their homes in their previous locations due to the regions vulnerability by clicking here.

Sources: 

http://worldnews.nbcnews.com/_news/2013/11/17/21496134-typhoon-haiyan-a-crisis-by-the-numbers?lite
http://www.wunderground.com/news/americans-killed-philippines-typhoon-haiyan-20131119
http://www.npr.org/player/v2/mediaPlayer.html?action=1&t=1&islist=false&id=245949244&m=246015345

Typhoon Haiyan UPDATE

Recent news reports out of Tacloban, Philippines have been mixed. On one hand, death and destruction are everywhere and thousands are still waiting for help as Philippine and international aid are still on their way in some areas. There is good news though. Philippine President Benigno Aquino was interviewed today and lowered the estimated death count to 2,000 to 2,500. These numbers are far more encouraging than the 10,000 people that were estimated to have died in Tacloban alone after last weeks typhoon.

The path of the storm ripped through the Philippines and traveled all the way into Vietnam late last week. It was one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. Military aircraft and ships from the United States and the United Kingdom are on their way as we speak. Hundreds of thousands are without food, water, or shelter. In fact, there is little information about about the more rural communities that were affected by the storm because it is so difficult to get into those areas and the government has been working to aid those heavily populated areas that were hit hardest. These people need help now. Hopefully more international aid will continue to come into the area over these next few days, or weeks, or months. Some areas have been completely demolished and will take years to build up these areas once again. We just have to be glad that forecasting predicted this storm so accurately and the death toll is not as high as previously estimated because of that.

Sources:

http://www.wunderground.com/hurricane/western-pacific/2013/Tropical-Storm-Haiyan?MR=1

http://www.chicagotribune.com/news/chi-typhoon-haiyan-philippines-20131112,0,4089787.story

"Super-storm" Typhoon Haiyan Hits The Philippines

The first "super-storm" (definition of super-storm is up to interpretation) hit the Philippines yesterday. Officials knew the storm was coming and it appeared as though steps were taken to protect the lives of the Filipino people by evacuating thousands away from the coast. Still, the impressive power of the storm threatened millions of people. Reports coming in today have estimated that the death toll in the central Philippine city of Tacloban could reach 10,000 people! The video below shows that the storm was accurately tracked and forecast before it reached land.

It appears drowning and collapsed buildings are the likely factors contributing to the most deaths in the area. The city of 200,000 people has been completely devastated. Hundreds of bodies have already been recovered. The typhoon came through with winds that reached 147 miles per hour and saw wind gusts of 170 miles per hour. The storm could be considered comparable to a Category 4 hurricane and even close to reaching a Category 5. Thankfully, the storm has slowed some and as the it reaches Vietnam today, winds have died down some. It is important that precautions are still taken in these other areas to protect the citizens of mainland Asia that will be affected by the storm.

Currently, the Philippine Government is attempting to restore communications, power, and water in order to aid the victims and rescuers in the area. The United States and other countries from around the world are stepping up to provide disaster relief aid because of the devastation from this unbelievable storm. News reports have called this typhoon "one of the most powerful storms in the history of mankind." However you want to look at it, there are going to be thousands of people dead, hundreds of thousands affected, and communities simply reduced to rubble. Continued updates on the continuation of the storm and the relief efforts in the Philippines will be forthcoming...

Sources:

http://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2013/11/09/typhoon-haiyan-philippines-vietnam/3483099/

http://www.latimes.com/world/worldnow/la-fg-wn-officials-typhoon-haiyan-death-toll-could-soar-to-10000-in-philippines-20131109,0,6461436.story

Sonia Upgraded To Tropical Storm As It Approaches Mexico

The United States National Hurricane Center has upgraded Sonia from a tropical depression to a tropical storm as it has gained strength in the pacific. This is yet another powerful storm that is threatening the western coast of Mexico and the Baja California peninsula. There is expected to be very heavy rain, leading to life-threatening flash floods and mudslides that could threaten the people of Mexico when the storm makes landfall.

Winds from the storm have grown to only 40 mile per hour winds but those numbers could grow before Sonia makes landfall. This is an area that has seen an increasing number of tropical storms as of late. Most recently, Tropical Storm Karen moved through relatively the same area. Although North America has been spared of any major hurricanes this year, the western coast of Mexico has been hit with many smaller storms that have dropped heavy rains and caused landslides because of it. Each added storm that reaches areas that already have the ground saturated with water increase the risks of these hazards. Sonia is only a couple hundred miles away from coast now. I will continue to update the storm if its strength picks up.

Sources:

http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/refresh/graphics_ep3+shtml/203222.shtml?5-daynl

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2013/11/03/tropical-storm-sonia_n_4208321.html?ir=World

Typhoon(s) Headed For Japan...AGAIN!

A few days after Typhoon Wipha, the largest typhoon to hit the area in over a decade, hit southern Japan, two more typhoons are expected to hit the area around Tokyo. It is not just two more storms on the way that is the problem. The problem is these two storms appear to be headed for one another and will most likely collide on an area that is still recovering from the recent typhoon.

Typhoon Wipha (pictured above) recently swept through the Tokyo area, causing damage and even killing one person in the heavily populated city. The biggest cause for concern was on the small island of Oshima, located 75 miles south of Tokyo, which had 29 confirmed deaths in the area and 15 people reported missing. Heavy rainfall caused flooding and landslides that stropped transportation and basically crushed entire houses along the hills of Oshima. Residents need to prepare themselves though, because it appears the worst is not yet over.

Typhoon Francisco is on its way from the south and will appear to run along the east coast of Japan. Originally, this storm was not supposed to be a major problem. Francisco, although still a strong storm, is much weaker than Wipha was. It looks like this storm is going to be much more of a problem now that Typhoon Lekima looks like it will collide with Francisco and disrupt its path. It originally looked like Francisco would move slowly past Japan and out into the north Pacific but now it will likely linger longer over the Izu island chain south of Tokyo and dump heavy rain on the area for much longer than expected (explained further in graphic below).

The stronger winds from Lekima will push Francisco from the east and prevent it from moving along. The increased rainfall will undoubtedly cause conditions for more landslides in the area. Thankfully, Japan is used to storms like this and their proactive government is already planning to evacuate a few hundred people. If this was a much less developed country, the process for evacuating many people would be a much  more difficult undertaking for their governments. We just have to hope that by Thursday, when the storms are projected to enter the area, some of their power dissipates or they change their coarse to cause less rainfall than is expected. If not, lets hope everyone can get out of the area in time because when large mudslides begin to happen it may be too late. 

Sources:

http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/23/national/big-typhoons-may-collide-off-honshu/#.UnAptPmsiG4

http://www.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://jto.s3.amazonaws.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/10/p1-typhoon-a-20131024.jpg&imgrefurl=http://www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2013/10/23/national/big-typhoons-may-collide-off-honshu/&h=1559&w=1840&sz=966&tbnid=hHITtIH5DN4b4M:&tbnh=130&tbnw=154&zoom=1&usg=__HXR0AbHSOIM1rtLx3VnAZOidafw=&docid=w_MEd88SKF0hyM&sa=X&ei=0C9wUoHbMIri2QW69YCIDg&ved=0CEsQ9QEwCQ

http://www.cnn.com/2013/10/16/world/asia/japan-typhoon-deaths/index.html?hpt=wo_bn4

High Winds Tear Through Northern Europe

Powerful storms swept across Europe on Sunday that left at least 13 people dead, caused major transportation delays, damaged homes and businesses, and kept hundreds of thousands of people in the dark when their power went out. Reporters have called this one of the most powerful storms in Europe in years. The United Kingdom was hit the worst as winds gusted up to 99 miles per hour. Five people were killed in the UK alone caused by the storm.

Train companies were shut down and planes flying into Gatwick, Stansted, and Heathrow airports were delayed for some time. This was a powerful storm folks! People interviewed today said they could not recall having winds whipping that strong since the 1987 storm that brought 115 m.p.h. winds to the UK. 

 It is funny, you can read about this storm online and you can read through my other posts on environmental hazards on this blog, but it is different when you feel directly related to the storm. Yesterday my girlfriend was trying to fly into London from Dublin, Ireland and planes were delayed all over the airport. When her plane finally touched down in London, train services were down and people, including my girlfriend, had to find alternate routes of transportation. The train service to Stansted Airport I planned to take in late November looks like it will still be out of service and I have made alternate plans to travel by bus at that time. 

I have been fortunate to have never been caught in the middle of a large environmental hazard. Part of that is that I do not live in an area that has frequent hazards, but the threat is always there for something to happen. It just puts it in a different perspective when you are following the storm online and hoping people you care about are going to be able to avoid powerful storms like this. 

Sources:

http://www.nytimes.com/2013/10/29/world/europe/powerful-storm-blasts-northern-europe.html?_r=0

Mexico Dodges Bullet In Hurricane Raymond

Hurricane Raymond had been in the cross-hairs of the Mexican government for some time as the storm gained strength in the Pacific. At one point, Raymond became the first major hurricane of the year (in a relatively quiet hurricane season) when it  reached the status of a category 3 storm three days ago. The storms winds reached 120 miles per hour at that point and the western coast of Mexico was bracing as it appeared the storm was headed their way.



Thankfully the storm never came ashore and it lost some of its strength on its way. That is important because Mexicans have been hit hard by tropical storms this year and the heavy rainfall that would have resulted from a major hurricane could have been a serious issue. Water has been dumped on many areas of the country recently and anything added to that could have been problematic for the citizens along the coast (especially in the vicinity of Acapulco where the storm's center was hit).



This was the 17th large storm in the eastern Pacific Ocean this year. This is above the average but the storms have largely been limited in strength with the worst part being heavy rainfall. The frequency of these storms has to have these communities prepared for flood issues and it looks like they got very lucky with Raymond.

Sources:
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/IOTD/view.php?id=82224&src=ve
http://www.nhc.noaa.gov/archive/2013/ep17/ep172013.public.007.shtml