Hundreds dead in Philippines due to TD Winnie

[Gorky]

Seems that almost no one noticed or paid attention to this storm as it stalled over the Phillipines. With 20kt winds, the JTWC didn't even post warnings about it, but absolutely torrential rain on already sodden ground from Typhoon Muifa and TD Merbok has caused massive devastation. Early reports put the dead at over 300 with over 150 missing. This is likely to rise as the water subsides. Chacnes are there will still be extensive flooding when Typhoon Nanmadol is scheduled to make landfall in 2 days however.

Here's an article about the devastation

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/world/asia-p ... 054427.stm

[sunny]

Wow. This is really sad.

[cycloneye]

Very sad news from there.

[Gorky]

Another worry with this, is that a lot of roads are washed away, powerlines and telephone lines are down, and there is worry that there will be no way to evacuate the area from the updoming typhoon, or even give warning to everyone left in the area. It's been a really bad 2 weeks. Muifa left 80ish dead and the crew of 40 fishing boats missing, presumed dead. Merbok killed over 20 more and now this. The sad thing is, the Philippines were having a really good year as far as storm related disasters were. These last 2 weeks have changed that however

[cycloneye]

They are now at the same situation as Florida went thru.

[hurricanedude]

wow....even TD'S are deadly this year!

[Hyperstorm]

People need to understand that a simple Tropical Depression can dump ENORMOUS amounts of rainfall if it sits over an area for a long time or if it's enhanced by another weather system. I clearly remember a tropical depression in 1999 in the Gulf of Mexico that killed hundreds of people in Mexico, more than powerful Hurricane Pauline in 1997.

[senorpepr]

Side note... TD Winnie is actually the name given by PAGASA. According to the JTWC, this system wasn't even a depression, but rather Invest 97W.

[Aslkahuna]

Same for the disturbance preceeding which PAGASA named Violeta. Muifa was TY29W and Nanmadol is TY30W so neither JTWC nor Tokyo which is the actual designating authority in the WPAC Basin called either system. JT had an alert on the most recent one but it has now faded away as the typhoon approaches. The primary problem causing the flooding and landslides is that the mountain slopes have been deforested by illegal logging which is protected by local officials who receive due consideration from the loggers (along with the National officials who are supposed to stop it) consequently the mountains are unable to handle heavy rain when it falls.

Steve

[Wnghs2007]

[Scorpion]

Thats sad that a country that gets typhoons all the time has 300 + people die by a simple TD.

[Guest]

Remember TD Jeanne? She killed thousands on Haiti.

[HurricaneBill]

In 1991, Tropical Storm Thelma killed 6000 in the Philippines.

In 1997, Category 1 Typhoon Linda killed 4000 in Vietnam and the surrounding areas.

[Wnghs2007]

In 1991, Tropical Storm Thelma killed 6000 in the Philippines.

In 1997, Category 1 Typhoon Linda killed 4000 in Vietnam and the surrounding areas.

Thats really sad

[HURAKAN]

To my untrained eye it looks like Luzon has the same problem as Haiti, very mountainous terrain and development of the country is also precarious.

[Wnghs2007]

To my untrained eye it looks like Luzon has the same problem as Haiti, very mountainous terrain and development of the country is also precarious.

Yes and now they are about to get hit by another hurricane.

[Aslkahuna]

Another thing the Philippines has in common with Haiti is rampant corruption at all levels of Government, Business and Society. Almost as bad as the US where they learned a lot of it from.

Steve

[Wnghs2007]

Another thing the Philippines has in common with Haiti is rampant corruption at all levels of Government, Business and Society. Almost as bad as the US where they learned a lot of it from.

Steve

Thanks for the info.