Typhoon Babs
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| Category 4 super typhoon (SSHS) | ||
|---|---|---|
 Super Typhoons Babs at peak intensity |
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| Formed | October 19, 1998 | |
| Dissipated | October 27, 1998 | |
| Highest winds |
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| Lowest pressure | 927 mbar (hPa) | |
| Damage | $6.57 billion (1998 USD) $7.16 billion (2005 USD) |
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| Fatalities | 246 direct | |
| Areas affected |
Philippines, Taiwan | |
| Part of the 1998 Pacific typhoon season |
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Super Typhoon Babs also known in the Philippines as Typhoon Loleng, was the second typhoon to strike the nation days after Typhoon Zeb made landfall.
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[edit] Storm history
A tropical depression formed on October 13 and the next day it was upgraded to a tropical storm and was named Babs. Babs moved westward before stalling off the coast of the Philippines and drifting for several days. In proximity to Typhoon Zeb, the Babs barely strengthened until October 19.[1]
Babs rapidly strengthened into a Category 4 typhoon with 140 mph (115 Kt) winds, then twelve hours later Babs reached a peak intensity of 155 mph before passing over Catanduanes Island on the 21st. The typhoon continued to move westward where it paralleled the coast of Luzon and then entered the South China Sea. Babs then recurved north and then northeast before dissipating west of Taiwan.[2]
[edit] Impact
Like Typhoon Zeb days earlier, Babs was very destructive to the Philippines. According to several observers, about 221 people were killed with 199 of them in the southern tip of Luzon. Elsewhere there were 22 fatalities.[3] Catanduanes Island was hardest hit as 71 deaths were reported. Most of the deaths were caused by mudslides and flash flooding. Across the Philippines there were scattered reports of indirect deaths (mostly from snakebites and clean up accidents).[4]
Babs left $6.57 billion dollars (1998 USD) and devastated the coconut and rice harvest which forced the country into an economic recession.[5]
In Taiwan, the dissipating remnants of Babs left 24 people dead.[6]
