The Path of Giant Typhoon Morakot

Morakot was a Category 2 storm. Although it does not possess a distinctive eye, but this storm is a large one as you can see it from its spiraling clouds.

Morakot has caused the worst disaster in 50 years in Taiwan and has proven itself deadly in the Philippines. It has bring along with it a total of 2777mm of rain fall in Taiwan, a stunning 1000mm more from the second worst tropical cyclones Herb in 1996.



Philippines

In the Philippines, eleven villages (Paudpod, San Juan, Baton-lapoc, Carael, Tampo, Paco, San Miguel, Binig, Bangan, and Capayawan) have been submerged in 4-foot to 5-foot deep floods after the Pinatubo Dike overflowed. Joint military and police rescue teams rescued 3 Koreans and 9 Canadian nationals. About 30,000 families were affected by Morakot; eleven people are confirmed dead. Three French tourists and two Filipino guides were killed in a flashflood caused by a landslide. Thousands are 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.

Taiwan

In Taiwan, where schools were closed ahead of the typhoon, Morakot caused landslides, severe floods, blew down trees and billboards, and stripped roofs from buildings. In a positive impact, Morakot brought much-needed rain to Taiwan, ending a month-long drought, and replenished reservoirs enough to warrant an end to water rationing. However, on the island, 18 people were killed, 35 were injured and 131 are missing. Almost the entire southern region of Taiwan (Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsiung, and Pingtung counties) and parts of Taitung County were flooded by record-breaking heavy rain. The rainfall in Pingtung County exceeded 2,500 millimetres (98 in), breaking all rainfall records of any single place in Taiwan induced by a single typhoon. Airlines in Taiwan have held some flights in and out of the airport, and seaports are closed. Electricity has been lost to approximately 25,000 homes.

Reports indicated that at least 600 people were missing throughout southern Taiwan. Most of the people were residents of Hsiao-Lin Village (小林), a 1300 residents mountain village in Chia-Hsian (甲仙), Kaohsiung. The village is buried by a massive mudslide that destroyed most of the town. It is reported that all roads toward Namaxia, Kaohsiung have been either blocked or washed away by severe mudslides. Hundreds of residents have been trapped for four days, and are running out of food and water. In addition, water and electricity have all been cut. A rescue helicopter, working to retrieve survivors of the mudslide crashed into a mountain side early on August 11, killing the three occupants. Crews have been unable to reach the wreckage due to the steep terrain of the mountain.

China

Southeast China evacuated more than 953,000 residents and called more than 35,000 boats back to shore. A fishing boat has capsized and search and rescue efforts have begun for nine missing fishermen. In all, roughly 1.5 million residents were evacuated ahead of the typhoon. A total of 34,000 watercraft sought refuge ahead of the storm. 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. In Wenzhou, a large landslide destroyed six apartment buildings, burying an unknown number of people, some of whom were feared dead. One person was killed after torrential rains caused the house he was in to collapse, as well as four other nearby homes.

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. At least 10,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the storm and over 1 million acres of farmland was inundated by flooding. In China Damages from the storm amounted to $1.4 billion. Over 11 million people were affected by Typhoon Morakot throughout eastern China.