Super Typhoon Haiyan

[OhYouBadBadKitten]

:( Those poor poor people in the Philippines.

170knt sustained - 196 mph
205knt gusts -236mph

Equivalent to an EF5 tornado but on the scale of a hurricane (I think the core very strongest winds are about 50 miles wide, but I'm rather uncertain on that)

If anyone has the living earth app its worth having a look at the storm. Its a monster in the awful sense.

Just reading up on this.. truly horrendous

Yes I've been looking at the satellite images. Terrifying!!!

it is quite an unbelievable scale of storm...

we have typhoons here in Japan, but nothing like that has ever hit us

very very scary

From what I can see a couple of days ago it was forecast to be much weaker. I suspect there needs to be a lot of analysis as to where the forecasting slipped. It wouldnt change the typhoon of course but perhaps more could have been evacuated.

Very awfully it is going to affect the region that was hit by the Mag 7.1 earthquake last month and it is the fourth typhoon to hit the Philippines this season.

We got hit by 6 typhoons in October alone this year - typhoons definitely more numerous and powerful this year in the Pacific

"A one-degree rise in ocean surface temperature near the equator is responsible for the large number this October, according to Akiyoshi Wada, a senior researcher in the Typhoon Research Department of the Meteorological Research Institute."

ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201310220053

ajw.asahi.com/article/behind_news/social_affairs/AJ201310220053

tanterose. Thank you for the link. It is concerning, longer term. There is evidence that the reason that the global atmospheric temperature has stabilised somewhat recently is that the oceans are transporting heat downwards acting as a heat sink. Far far to early to speculate as to whether the result is this seasons numerous typhoons (especially as the atlantic hurricane season has been very quiet) or whether it is just one of those blips that nature brings.

Powerful plea by after Bopha less than a year ago... sadly so little is changing, except more storms

I hadnt seen that before Oricella - it made me cry.

My brother is in Cebu at the moment. I haven't heard from him since last night (he rang SIL so know he's ok) so I haven't heard what happened yet.

I hope you hear from him soon Gwendoline. It's probable that he hasnt got power unless he has a generator. Was it today he rang your SIL?

Hope you got some word from your brother, Gwendoline.

That plea was at COP18 last year - the next COP meeting starts next week in Warsaw. A full year since that plea by the Philippine delegate...

The typhoon is due to hit Vietnam next. There will no doubt be more mass destruction

Thanks. He's back in Hong Kong now, unscathed but a bit shell shocked. I feel rather ashamed of my moaning about having to catch an earlier ferry home from the iow last week due to our feeble storm.

OYBBK hi, are you tracking this typhoon by any chance? It's heading towards Asia and the tracking seems to show that it will go above the Island of Bourneo, do you have any information? I'm going out of my mind with worry here as dd is in Bourneo (at the top of the Island) in the middle of the jungle, what do you think? Thanks.

TanteRose it's tragic.. and I vaguely recall seeing that there will be a strong coal lobby in Warsaw. I'm thinking that the Philippines should offer to host the next free one in the middle of the typhoon season...

Scrap that, I can see it's passed above, panicking over nothing, typical mother

Just such a devastating typhoon, those poor poor people.

Onestep, other than heavy rain I don't think your dd will have had any issues. You are correct it has gone north of Borneo and is now heading towards Vietnam. Wind speeds have dropped although it is still a powerful typhoon with associated storm surge.

Gwendoline I'm so glad he is ok and as been able to get back to Hong Kong.

Thanks anyway OYBBK, sorry typical mothers reaction, she is so far away and at the moment I'm having so little contact with her as she's in such a remote part of the Island, on the map they look so close whereas in reality....... I actually feel really bad for writing on the thread with my bad geography when the Typhoon has had such a massive devastating impact on so many people, reading the reports this morning is heartbreaking, so many people affected.

Blimey onestep, don't feel bad for asking. It is completely natural to worry. My geography knowledge of the area has improved this weekend!

:( fears of 10,000 dead in one area alone. Horrific beyond words.

It's just awful synth it? I have just donated to the Red Cross emergency appeal.

There's a thread here with a couple of ideas on how people can contribute too.

Thanks!

For those who struggle to understand what this sort of storm is like a cameracrew filmed as the worst of the storm hit
I hesitated to put the link up because of the dreadfulness of the news but it highlights how these were just normal suburbs with people going about every day lives before the storm hit.

I'm afraid there is the very dreadful prospect of another storm developing and hitting that region. A new tropical depression (the start of these storms) is forming and at present is forecast to hit the south Philippines. Japan Met agency Hopefully it wont be as well developed - it hits the Philippines earlier in its development and I'm hoping that Haiyan was able to take some energy out of the ocean.