Typhoon Flo (1990)

Super Typhoon Flo
Typhoon (JMA)
Category 5 super typhoon (SSHS)
Flo at peak intensity
Formed September 8, 1990
Dissipated September 22, 1990
Highest winds 10-minute sustained:
220 km/h (140 mph)
1-minute sustained:
270 km/h (165 mph)
Lowest pressure 891 mbar (hPa; 26.31 inHg)
Fatalities 32+
Damage $4 billion (1990 USD)
Areas affected Japan
Part of the 1990 Pacific typhoon season

Super Typhoon Flo (International designation 20W) was the strongest and costliest storm of the 1990 Pacific typhoon season. A powerful super typhoon, it had managed to cause $4 billion in damage. It developed on September 8, rapidly intensified on the 16th and 17th to a 165 mph super typhoon near Okinawa. Vertical shear weakened it as it recurved to the northeast, and Flo hit HonshÅ«, Japan on the 19th as a 100 mph category 2 typhoon. It continued rapidly northeastward, became extratropical on the 20th, and the extratropical cyclone dissipated on the 22nd. Widespread flooding and landslides killed 32 and caused billions in damage.

Typhoon Flo was the costliest typhoon in the West Pacific at the time. Now it ranks as the 8th costliest Western Pacific typhoon of all time, only to be surpassed by Typhoons Mireille, Songda, Prapiroon, Bart, Maemi, Bilis, and Rusa.[1]

Contents

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Meteorological History

A tropical depression developed on September 8 and rapidly intensified into a tropical storm the next da. The system intensified explosively on the 16th and 17th to a 165 mph super typhoon near Okinawa, reaching a low pressure of 891, making it one of the most powerful storms ever recorded.[2]

Vertical shear weakened it as it recurved to the northeast. However, it entered cooler waters and an area of wind shear, causing it to weaken slightly before landfall, and Flo hit HonshÅ«, Japan on the 19th as a 100 mph category 2 typhoon, causing floods and landslides that killed 32 people. It continued rapidly northeastward, weakening and dissipating rapidly, and racing northward. Super Typhoon Flo became a tropical depression, and became a remnant low on the 20. The remnants of a former Typhoon Flo continued northwards, and would dissipate by September 22.

Impact

Costliest Pacific typhoons
Cost refers to total estimated property damage.
Rank Typhoon Season Damages 2012 USD
1 Mireille 1991 $10 billion $16.1 billion
2 Songda 2004 $9 billion $10.5 billion
3 Prapiroon 2000 $6 billion $7.65 billion
4 Bart 1999 $5 billion $6.59 billion
5 Maemi 2003 $4.5 billion $5.37 billion
6 Bilis 2006 $4.4 billion $4.8 billion
7 Rusa 2002 $4.2 billion $5.13 billion
8 Flo 1990 $4 billion $6.72 billion
9 Winnie 1997 $3.2 billion $4.38 billion
10 Saomai 2006 $2.51 billion $2.74 billion
Source: International Disaster Database: Disaster List

Japan

In Honshu, Japan, the storm dropped torrential rainfalls that resulted in deadly floods and landslides. It killed at least 32 people and destroyed thousands of homes. Flo was responsible of this and had managed billions of dollars in damage and caused millions to the Japanese economy.

In Okinawa, it managed torrential rainfalls that resulted in deadly floods and landslides. It killed several people and caused billions of dollars in damage.

Overall, damage was totaled 4-6 billion dollars across Japan.

See also

References

  1. ^ http://www.emdat.be/disaster-list Costliest Pacific typhoons list. Retrieved by www.emdat.be
  2. ^ http://www.storm2k.org/phpbb2/viewtopic.php?f=31&t=111996 Retrieved by stormk.org.