| Typhoon (JMA) | |
|---|---|
| Category 1 typhoon (SSHS) | |
| Typhoon Morakot near peak intensity. | |
| Formed | August 2, 2009 |
| Dissipated | August 11, 2009 |
| Highest winds | 10-minute sustained: 140 km/h (85 mph) 1-minute sustained: 150 km/h (90 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 945 mbar (hPa; 27.91 inHg) |
| Fatalities | 789 total |
| Damage | $6.2 billion (2009 USD) |
| Areas affected | Japan, Philippines, Taiwan, China, South Korea |
| Part of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season | |
Typhoon Morakot (International designation: 0908, JTWC designation: 09W, PAGASA name: Kiko) was the deadliest typhoon to impact Taiwan in recorded history. It formed early on August 2, 2009 as an unnamed tropical depression. During that day the depression gradually developed before being upgraded to a tropical storm and assigned the name Morakot, by the Japan Meteorological Agency late on August 3. The large system gradually intensified as it tracked westward towards Taiwan. By August 5, the JMA and JTWC upgraded Morakot to a typhoon. Due to the size of the typhoon, the barometric pressure steadily decreased; however, maximum winds only increased slightly. Early on August 7, the storm attained its peak intensity with winds of 140 km/h (85 mph 10-minute sustained) according to the JMA. The JTWC reported the storm to be slightly stronger, with winds peaking at 150 km/h (90 mph 1-minute sustained), the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir–Simpson Hurricane Scale. Morakot weakened slightly before making landfall in central Taiwan later that day. Roughly 24 hours later, the storm emerged back over water into the Taiwan Strait and weakened to a severe tropical storm before making landfall in Mainland China on August 9. The storm gradually weakened as it continued to slowly track inland. The remnants of the typhoon eventually dissipated on August 11.
Typhoon Morakot wrought catastrophic damage in Taiwan, leaving 461 people dead and 192 others missing, most of whom are feared dead and roughly NT$110 billion ($3.3 billion USD) in damages. The storm produced copious amounts of rainfall, peaking at 2,777 mm (109.3 in), surpassing the previous record of 1,736 mm (68.35 in) set by Typhoon Herb in 1996. The extreme amount of rain triggered enormous mudslides and severe flooding throughout southern Taiwan. One mudslide buried the entire town of Xiaolin killing an estimated 500 people in the village alone. The slow moving storm also caused widespread damage in China, leaving eight people dead and causing $1.4 billion (USD) in damages. Nearly 2,000 homes were destroyed in the country and 136,000 more were reported to have sustained damage.
In the wake of the storm, Taiwan's government faced extreme criticism for the slow response to the disaster and having only initially deployed roughly 2,100 soldiers to the affected regions. Later the number of soldiers working to recover trapped residents increased to 46,000. Rescue crews were able to retrieve thousands of trapped residents from buried villages and isolated towns across the island. Days later, Taiwan's president apologized for the government's slow response publicly. On August 19, the Taiwan government announced that they would start a NT$100 billion ($3 billion USD) reconstruction plan that would take place over a three year span in the devastated regions of southern Taiwan.[1] Days after the storm, international aid began to be sent to the island.
The storm also caused severe flooding in the northern Philippines that killed 26 people.
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Early on August 2, 2009, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) reported that a tropical depression had formed within a monsoon trough located about 1000 km (620 mi), to the east of the Philippines.[2][3] However the depression remained weak, and was downgraded to an area of low pressure before regenerating later that day.[4][5][6] Both the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) then started to monitor the depression early the next day whilst it was located about 700 km (430 mi) to the southeast of Okinawa, Japan with PAGASA assigning the name Kiko to the depression.[3][7] The JTWC were reporting at this time that it was an area of convection with deep convection flaring on the western side of a partially exposed low level circulation center at this time.[3]
Later on August 3, the JMA reported that the depression had intensified into a Tropical Storm and named it as Morakot. The JTWC further designated it as Tropical Depression 09W as deep convection had increased over the low level circulation center and reported that it was moving around a low level ridge of pressure which was located to the east of the low level circulation center. On the morning of August 4, the JTWC reported that the Morakot had steadily intensified into a Tropical storm as wind-speeds were estimated to be near 65 km/h (40 mph) with deep convective banding building toward the low level circulation center under the influence of a subtropical ridge located to the east of the system. Later that day the JMA reported that Morakot had intensified into a Severe Tropical Storm before it was upgraded to a typhoon by the JMA and the JTWC early the next day.
At 0000 UTC on August 3, the JMA placed the Moji and Yokohama navtex areas under a gale warning, six hours later they also placed the Naha navtex area under a gale warning.[8][9] Later that day at 1800 UTC, the JMA canceled the gale warnings for the Yokohama navtex area however at 0600 UTC the next morning the gale warning for Yokohama was reissued.[10][11] The JMA kept these warnings in force before they were upgraded to a typhoon warnings as Morakot intensified into a typhoon on August 5.[12] Early the next day, US military installations on Okinawa raised their Tropical Cyclone Condition of Readiness (TCCOR) from level 4 to level 3 which meant that winds exceeding 50 knots (93 km/h, 57 mph) were expected to affect Okinawa within 48 hours.[13] This came as the JMA canceled the warning for Yokohama.
From their first warning PAGASA warned that the depression was expected to enhance the Southwest Monsoon and bring occasional heavy rain over Luzon and Western Visayas.[7] However early on August 6 they placed the Batanes in Northern Luzon under Public Storm Warning Signal 1 (PSWS 1) which meant that winds of up to 35 kn (65 km/h) were expected in Batanes within 36 hours. They then placed Northern Cagayan, Apayao, Ilocos and Norte, under PSWS 1 later that day as it moved toward Taiwan. They kept these warnings in place until early on August 8, when they revised the warnings downgrading the signal for Northern Cagayan, Apayao, Ilocos and Norte, whilst putting Babuyan and Calayan Islands under PSWS 1 and then early the next day PAGASA released their final warning and downgrade all signals for the Philippines.[14]
An entire village of Shiaolin was buried at the southern county of Kaohsiung killing 439 people with many roads left damaged and the landscape changed.[15] Other affected areas included the Taimali River mouth, the Jihben River catchment, the Gaoping River bridge linking the Linyuan to Xinyuan townships at the boundary between the Kaohsiung and Pingtung counties, and several catchments in Pingtung County where the rivers flow into the Taiwan Strait.[16] Close to 700 people were killed or missing as a result.
More than 953,000 residents and more than 35,000 boats were evacuated back to shore in the eastern and southeastern provinces of the People's Republic of China.[17] A fishing boat capsized with nine fishermen missing.[18] In all, roughly 1.5 million residents were evacuated ahead of the typhoon.[19] A total of 34,000 watercraft sought refuge ahead of the storm.[20]
On Thursday August 6, shortly after mid-day, Morakot lashed Okinawa-Honto with wind gusts as high as 65 mph (105 km/h),[21] stranding thousands of summer holiday air travelers. Naha Airport experienced east crosswinds of 50 mph (80 km/h) which almost completely shut down the airport. Domestic and international airlines reported 252 flights canceled, stranding 41,648 passengers at the peak of the summer Obon holidays. Some Kadena-based U.S. aircraft were evacuated ahead of Morakot.[21] The southernmost island groups of Yaeyama, including Yonaguni and Ishigaki, have been affected by gale- or storm-force winds.
In the Philippines, eleven villages (Pagudpod, San Juan, Baton-lapoc, Carael, Tampo, Paco, San Miguel, Bining, Bangan, and Capayawan) were submerged in 4-to-5-foot-deep (1.2 to 1.5 m) floods after the Pinatubo Dike overflowed around 4:00 p.m. on August 6, 2009.[22] Joint military and police rescue teams rescued 3 Koreans and 9 Canadian nationals. About 29,000 people were affected by Morakot; nine people have been confirmed dead.[23][24] Three French tourists and two Filipino guides were killed in a flashflood caused by a landslide. Thousands have been trapped on rooftops or in trees awaiting helicopter rescue attempts and thousands have lost their homes. At least two have died from flooding. Landslides have claimed the lives of no less than twelve miners while others are still missing after a mine caved in. Schools have suspended their classes in the hardest hit area, and highways have been closed due to landslides.[25]
After Morakot landed in the midnight of August 8, almost the entire southern region of Taiwan (Chiayi County/Chiayi City, Tainan County/Tainan City (now merged as Tainan), Kaohsiung County/Kaohsiung City (now merged as Kaohsiung), and Pingtung County) and parts of Taitung County and Nantou County were flooded by record-breaking heavy rain. The rainfall in Pingtung County exceeded 2,600 millimetres (100 in), breaking all rainfall records of any single place in Taiwan induced by a single typhoon.[27] Airlines in Taiwan did hold some flights in and out of airports, but seaports were closed. Electricity supplies were cut to approximately 25,000 homes.[28]
Reports indicated that at least 600 people were missing throughout southern Taiwan. Most were residents of Xiaolin (小林村), a mountain village with 1,300 residents in Jiaxian Township. The village was buried by a massive mudslide that destroyed most of the town.[29][30] It is estimated that 118 people died in the village due to the mudslide, which reports indicated covered all but two houses.[31] It was reported that all roads toward Namaxia Township were either blocked or washed away by severe mudslides. Hundreds of residents were trapped for four days, and were running out of food and water. In addition, water and electricity had been cut.[32] A rescue helicopter, working to retrieve survivors of the mudslide crashed into a mountain side early on August 11, killing the three occupants. Crews were unable to reach the wreckage due to the steep terrain.[33]
| Duration (hours) |
Storm name and year |
World record prior to Morakot |
Morakot total |
|||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| mm | in | mm | in | ref | ||
| 24 | Denise (1966)[36] | 1825 | 71.8 | 1623.5 | 63.9 | [37] |
| 48 | Unnamed (1958) | 2467 | 97.1 | 2361 | 93.0 | [37] |
| 72 | Gamede (2007) | 3929 | 154.6 | 2748 | 108.2 | [37] |
| 96 | Gamede (2007) | 4869 | 191.7 | |||
| Total | Hyacinthe (1980) | 5678 | 223.5 | 2884 | 113.5 | [37] |
A swollen river in Taitung County undermined 51 homes and swept them away into the Pacific, leaving numerous residents homeless. No people were in the homes when they fell into the river.[38] In the famous Zhiben (知本) hot springs area, the six-story Jinshuai Hotel was destroyed when it collapsed into the Zhiben River after being undermined by flood waters. Several stores in front of the hotel were washed away days earlier as the river continued to overflow its banks and inundate nearby towns and cities. Running water in Tainan County to 280,000 was shut down as flood waters contaminated the local reservoir.[39]
Throughout Taiwan, at least 107 people were confirmed to have been killed by the storm as of August 13.[40] The record-breaking rains also caused catastrophic agricultural losses, with estimates reaching NT$9 billion ($274 million USD). At its peak, roughly 1.58 million were without power across the island and over 710,000 were without water pressure.[41] Tourism losses due to the typhoon were estimated to be at least NT$800 million ($24.4 million USD).[42]
However, Morakot also ended a month-long drought and replenished reservoirs enough to warrant an end to water rationing.[43]
The "Little Three Links" between Kinmen of the Republic of China and Xiamen of the People's Republic of China was suspended. Almost all reservoirs in Kinmen County were full. Winds at Force 13 on the Beaufort scale were recorded in the Matsu Islands.
National Disaster Prevention and Protection Commission is the task-force-grouped committee authorized by the law of Disaster Prevention and Protection.[44]
During a four day span, Morakot produced up to 1,240 mm (49 in) of rain in Zhejiang province, the highest total in nearly 60 years in the province. A landslide in Pengxi, at the foot of a mountain, destroyed a three-story apartment building, with six people inside. All six were recovered from the rubble of the structure. However, two later died of their injuries.[19] In Wenzhou, a large landslide destroyed six apartment buildings, burying an unknown number of people, some of whom were feared dead.[45] One person was killed after torrential rains caused the house he was in to collapse, as well as four other nearby homes.[46]
In Xiapu county, the location of Morakot's landfall in China, 136,000 people reported damage to their homes from flooding or landslides. The fishing sector of the local industry sustained roughly 200 million yuan ($29 million USD) in losses. Fourteen townships in the county were flooded. An estimated 3.4 million people reported property damage throughout Zhejiang province, with at least 1,600 homes being destroyed.[46] At least 10,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm and over 1 million acres (4,000 km2) of farmland was inundated by flooding. In China Damages from the storm amounted to $1.4 billion.[19] Over 11 million people were affected by Typhoon Morakot throughout eastern China.[47][48]
The typhoon has resulted in some identifiable but limited impact on oil deliveries to East Asian destinations. At least two fuel oil cargoes in East China were delayed due to typhoon Morakot. This included 90,000-mt Venezuelan fuel oil cargo with Zhoushan in Zhejiang Province. There was a report that an 18,000-mt cargo of Singapore-origin with fuel oil on board for Aug 10 delivery into Zhangjiagang in Jiangsu Province was postponed to arrive on Aug 15.
Many ports in East China were closed from Aug 8, including Waigaoqiao, Jinshan and Yangshan ports in Shanghai, Zhoushan and Ningbo ports in Zhejiang, Zhangjiagang, Nantong and Jiangyin ports in Jiangsu.
| Wettest tropical cyclones in Taiwan Highest known recorded totals |
||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Precipitation | Storm | Location | ||
| Rank | (mm) | (in) | ||
| 1 | 3060 | 120.5 | Morakot 2009 | Alishan, Chiayi[49] |
| 2 | 2319 | 91.3 | Nari 2001 | Wulai, New Taipei[50] |
| 3 | 2162 | 85.1 | Flossie 1969 | Beitou, Taipei[49] |
| 4 | 1987 | 78.2 | Herb 1996 | Alishan, Chiayi[51] |
| 5 | 1672 | 65.8 | Carla 1967 | Dongshan, Yilan[52] |
| 6 | 1611 | 63.4 | Sinlaku 2008 | Heping, Taichung[53] |
| 7 | 1561 | 61.5 | Haitang 2005 | Sandimen, Pingtung[54] |
| 8 | 1546 | 60.9 | Aere 2004 | Miaoli County[55] |
| 9 | 1500 | 59.1 | Parma 2009 | Yilan County[56] |
| 10 | 1497 | 59.0 | Lynn 1987 | Beitou, Taipei[49] |
After the typhoon, search-and-rescue teams were eventually deployed throughout Taiwan in response to numerous landslides and flash flooding. Helicopters were rushed to Xiaolin to retrieve as many residents as possible and transport them to shelters. By August 11, nearly 300 residents were confirmed to have been moved to safety. During the afternoon, one helicopter crashed into a mountainside while carrying three crew members. All three crew members died. Continuing standards set up after the 921 earthquake, the Government of Taiwan provided NT$1 million for each family member killed or missing and NT$250,000 for the critically injured.[57] Due to the severity of the damage in Xiaolin access to the area was restricted to military personnel only.[58] Military rescue personnel have recovered 700 villagers alive in three villages on Tuesday night, and another 26 were evacuated by helicopter Wednesday morning. Major-General Richard Hu said it is still too early to state how many villagers had been buried, military rescuers just know that 90% of the homes of the three villages were buried by the landslide.[59] [60]
President Ma Ying-jeou and his administration have been criticised because of the slow response to Typhoon Morakot. The government was initially found to have rejected foreign aid, then to have quickly reversed that decision in response to criticism, citing that the rejection was only temporary. Vice Foreign Minister Andrew Hsia has tendered his resignation for authorizing Taiwan's diplomats to turn down foreign aid, a decision done without the consent of more senior officials.[61][62][63]
After the storm passed across central and southern Taiwan towards the east coast of China, the true extent of the damage caused by flooding and mudslides slowly came to be known.
Immediately after the typhoon, large civilian and military search-and-rescue operations were deployed. Helicopters were sent to numerous mountain villages, including Xiaolin, in an attempt to rescue locals who were unable to escape by foot. It was discovered that almost 400 people had vanished, and are presumed to have been buried alive when a massive mudslide wiped out 90 per cent of the village's homes. Similar stories have been reported from other small villages in the vicinity of this region.
Rescue operations continue, with foreign aid coming in from the United States, Australia, Israel and several other European and Asian countries.
Throughout Taiwan, at least 461 people were confirmed to have been killed by the storm as of August 25, with 192 people missing and 46 injured. The record-breaking rains also caused catastrophic agricultural losses, with estimates reaching NT$14.59 billion (US$443 million).[64]
The World Vision organization reports having distributed roughly 40 gallons of water to 800 people. The National Disaster Coordinating Council declared a state of calamity for the Zambales region as over 13,000 people were left homeless.[65]
Due to the extensive damage and deaths caused by the storm, the name "Morakot" was later retired. The committee selected the name "Atsani" to replace "Morakot" on the Western Pacific basin name lists beginning in 2011.
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Tropical cyclones of the 2009 Pacific typhoon season |
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