roms psp iso pt br | 10 Deadliest Typhoons in History

Tropical cyclones in the western North Pacific region around the Philippines, Japan, and China with sustained wind speeds of at least 74 mph (119 km/hr) are called typhoons. When the same phenomenon occurs in the North Atlantic Ocean and the eastern North Pacific, the resulting storm is called a hurricane, and when it occurs in the western South Pacific and Indian oceans, it is called a cyclone (though “tropical cyclone” is used as a generic term for all three). Apart from destructive winds, these storms often bring torrential rains and massive storm surges (which are created when a storm’s air-pressure changes cause the sea level to rise) and lead to secondary disasters such as floods and dam failures. Over the centuries some typhoons have caused staggering loss of life, such as Super Typhoon Haiyan (2013) or Typhoon Nina (1975). Here we list 10 of the deadliest typhoons on record, highlighting the scale of their impact on the communities they struck. (Hurricanes and cyclones are not considered in this list).

roms psp iso pt br - Haiphong typhoon of 1881

• Primary impact region: Vietnam
• Date: October 8, 1881
• Fatalities: About 300,000

This typhoon cut across the South China Sea to strike the major Vietnamese port city of Haiphong. It is held to be among the worst typhoons in recorded history for its human impact even though its exact strength was never determined. The typhoon approached Haiphong through the Gulf of Tonkin, causing massive waves as it neared. Haiphong is located along a branch of the Red River delta and connected to the sea through an access channel. The narrow width of the channel amplified the effects of the surge and caused catastrophic flooding.

Typhoon Nina of 1975

• Primary impact regions: Taiwan, China (especially Henan province)
• Date: August 4, 1975 (Taiwan); August 5, 1975 (China)
• Fatalities: 171,000–220,000

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Typhoon Nina emerged as a tropical depression (a low-intensity weather phenomenon not strong enough to be classified as a storm) in the Philippine Sea on July 30, 1975. It gained strength and made landfall in Taiwan with 150 mph (240 km/hr) winds. It caused widespread damage to public infrastructure in the country and five deaths before moving northwest across the Taiwan Strait into China’s Henan province. On August 8 the typhoon’s torrential downpours overwhelmed the Shimantan Dam (with a volume of 4.2 billion cubic feet [120 million cubic meters]) on the Hong River and the Banqiao Dam (17.4 billion cubic feet [492 million cubic meters]) on the Ru River. The resulting flooding caused more than 60 other dams in the province to fail. This led to massive fatalities not only through flooding but also famine and epidemics caused by contaminated water. Some estimates put the death toll at 220,000. The number of people affected by the disaster exceeded 10 million.

China typhoon of 1912

• Primary impact region: Zhejiang province, China
• Date: August 29, 1912
• Fatalities: 50,000–220,000

This typhoon formed in the Philippine Sea and made landfall in China. It progressed northwest across the sea to the Zhejiang province, where it brought strong winds and torrential rain. This caused heavy flooding along Zhejiang’s rivers, especially in areas in the south of the province, such as Wenzhou, Qingtian, and Yunhe. Some sources report 40,000–50,000 casualties from the typhoon’s immediate impact, but the widespread flooding it triggered may have caused as many as 220,000 deaths.

Swatow typhoon of 1922

• Primary impact regions: China (especially Shantou in Guangdong province)
• Date: August 2, 1922
• Fatalities: More than 70,000

This typhoon struck the Chinese city of Swatow (Shantou) on the South China Sea coast with winds about 100 mph (160 km/hr) and caused a storm surge at least 8 feet (2.4 meters) high, damaging infrastructure and causing heavy flooding. Much of the city was submerged, with thousands of homes destroyed and transportation links severed, making it one of the deadliest typhoons in China’s history.

Great Hong Kong Typhoon of 1937

• Primary impact region: Hong Kong
• Date: September 2, 1937
• Fatalities: More than 11,000

The typhoon developed east of the island of Luzon in the Philippines and passed through Hong Kong with wind speeds as high as 160 mph (260 km/hr). It caused the sea level in the harbor to rise about 6 feet (2 meters) above predicted levels, severely damaging ships in harbor. The Tolo Channel, a narrow passage of water between the two eastern promontories of Hong Kong, formed a bottleneck for a 30-foot (9-meter) wave created by the storm. The wave heavily flooded low-lying fishing villages such as Tai Po and Sha Tin. The death toll of more than 11,000 constituted about 1 percent of the population of Hong Kong at the time.

Hong Kong typhoon of 1906

• Primary impact region: Hong Kong
• Date: September 18, 1906
• Fatalities: About 10,000

A typhoon emerged some 300 miles (500 km) from Hong Kong Observatory early on the date of impact. For reasons that remain unknown, the observatory failed to receive prior warning of the storm, hampering the city’s preparedness. The storm battered Victoria Harbour and its surroundings, causing significant damage to ships. The strength of the typhoon’s approach also caused massive waves, compounding damage and casualties.

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Super Typhoon Haiyan of 2013

• Primary impact regions: Palau, the Philippines, Vietnam, and China
• Date: November 8, 2013
• Fatalities: More than 6,300

This typhoon hit the Philippines, Vietnam, China, and Palau. Of these, the central Philippines was the worst affected, especially the city of Tacloban. Haiyan made landfall at Guiuan city on the island of Samar in the Philippines with a wind speed of 195 mph (310 km/hr), making it one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Its course through the Philippines caused widespread damage and hundreds of deaths in Guiuan alone, and the storm passed over Leyte Gulf into Tacloban, where it was reported to have caused 20-foot (6-meter) storm surges that damaged boats and buildings alike and swept debris out to sea, even as it led to thousands of fatalities.

Super Typhoon Vera of 1959

• Primary impact region: Japan
• Date: September 26, 1959
• Fatalities: More than 5,000

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Also called the Isewan or Ise Bay typhoon, Vera remains the deadliest typhoon ever to have struck Japan. It made landfall in the Ise Bay region on the southern coast of Honshu island and caused widespread flooding that destroyed crops and contaminated drinking water in many areas. The storm killed more than 5,000 people and left 1.5 million people homeless. The storm’s top wind speed was 160 mph (260 km/hr), equivalent to a category 5 storm on the Saffir-Simpson scale, the strongest category a storm can attain on that scale. It is the worst of Japan’s three great Shōwa typhoons (the others being a 1934 typhoon that struck Cape Muroto and Typhoon Ida [1945], which are both discussed below), called thus because they occurred in Japan’s Shōwa period (1926–1989).

Muroto typhoon of 1934

• Primary impact region: Japan
• Date: September 20–21, 1934
• Fatalities: More than 3,000

This typhoon hit Japan’s Cape Muroto in Kōchi prefecture on Shikoku island and Ōsaka prefecture on Honshu island. The typhoon pushed a 13-foot (4-meter) storm surge toward Ōsaka, and strong winds destroyed buildings there, resulting in nearly 15,000 injuries, damage to more than 90,000 houses, extensive flooding, and the loss of thousands of lives.

Typhoon Ida of 1945

• Location: Japan
• Date: September 17, 1945
• Fatalities: More than 2,400

This storm is called the Makurazaki typhoon in Japan because it made landfall near Makurazaki city in Kagoshima prefecture on Kyushu island. It moved northward through Kyushu into Honshu and struck Hiroshima, about a month after the city had been devastated by the atomic bomb Little Boy, which had been dropped on it during World War II. Insufficiently prepared to handle the destruction of the typhoon in the aftermath of the country’s defeat in the war, many areas in western Japan suffered severe damage.