| Typhoon (JMA) | |
|---|---|
| Category 3 Typhoon (SSHS) | |
| Typhoon Utor on December 13 | |
| Formed | December 7, 2006 |
| Dissipated | December 15, 2006 |
| Highest winds | 10-minute sustained: 155 km/h (100 mph) 1-minute sustained: 185 km/h (115 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 945 mbar (hPa; 27.91 inHg) |
| Fatalities | 38 direct, 8 missing |
| Damage | $15.8 million (2006 USD) |
| Areas affected | Philippines and Malaysia |
| Part of the 2006 Pacific typhoon season | |
Typhoon Utor (international designation: 0622, JTWC designation: 25W, PAGASA name: Seniang) was a deadly typhoon which struck the Philippines about two weeks after Typhoon Durian caused significant devastation in the country.
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On December 2, an area of convection was spotted by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center southeast of Chuuk. Although convection decreased in the next few hours, on December 5 the JTWC once again noted flaring deep convection, and late on December 6 a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert was issued. On the morning of December 7, both the JTWC and Japan Meteorological Agency-RSMC Tokyo reported that a tropical depression had formed. Soon after, the depression entered the area of responsibility of PAGASA, who named it Seniang. The depression strengthened throughout the day, and the JMA upgraded it to Tropical Storm Utor later that day. The name Utor was submitted by the United States on behalf of the Marshall Islands, and is a Marshallese word for squall line.
On December 8, the JMA upgraded Utor to a severe tropical storm. It intensified further and was upgraded to a typhoon by the JMA on the morning of December 9, with PAGASA and JTWC doing the same. The storm made landfall shortly after noon local time the same day.Storm Signal no.3 has been raised in Samar Provinces, Leyte, Biliran, Cebu After crossing the Philippines, Utor took a track similar to Typhoon Chebi in November, first moving northwest then threatening to take aim at Hong Kong. It restrengthened to an 85-kt typhoon, before it slowed as it tracked in a weak steering environment within a weakness in the subtropical ridge. It then weakened as wind shear increased and dry air entrainment occurred. The JMA downgraded it to a severe tropical storm on December 13, and to a tropical storm the same day. The next day the JTWC downgraded the storm to a tropical storm and issued its last advisory.
An estimated 90,000 people were evacuated ahead of Typhoon Utor throughout the Philippines.[1]
The 2006 ASEAN and East Asia Summit, originally scheduled to start December 10, was put back a month due to the storm.[2][3] Typhoon Utor killed 30 people and left another eight missing throughout the Philippines.[4] A total of 9,553 homes were destroyed and 33,943 were damaged, displacing 56,313 people. In all, 880,663 people were affected.[5] Damages from the storm totaled to $15.8 million,[4] of which $9.6 million was from agricultural damage.[5] An additional 44 people were injured by the storm.[4]
Typhoon Utor was blamed for heavy rains of up to 350 mm within 24 hours in southern Peninsular Malaysia, specifically Johor, Negeri Sembilan, Melaka and Pahang, causing massive floods within the southern region on December 18, 2006, which was considered as the worst in the Malaysian southern region history.[6] However, there were also reports a few days earlier that adverse weather was not to be blamed on the typhoon.[7] The worst-affected areas were Segamat and Kota Tinggi, where both towns were totally inaccessible by land after all main roads leading to those towns were all flooded.[8] Until December 24, 2006, the floods had claimed 8 lives.[9]