Typhoon Haiyan called Yolanda in the Philippines slammed into the island of Samar on the eastern edge of the Philippines early Friday morning and sped across the islands in the center of the country.
Some areas remained unreachable Friday night because of problems with phones so the death toll is expected to rise. But it appeared that the speed with which the storm passed over the islands limited the deaths and damage.
The storm moved across the country at about 25 miles per hour roughly twice as fast as Typhoon Bopha last year which killed more than a thousand people. Having a storm move through so fast decreases the impact of rain and landslides a major cause of deaths..
Fortunately this moved like a Porsche said Michael Padua a senior typhoon specialist at a private forecasting group Weather Philippines.
There were grave concerns in the days before the storm hit because the estimated high wind speeds over the ocean indicated that it could have a devastating impact on land. But on Friday there was widespread disagreement over what the wind speeds were over land.
The alarm may have had some advantages. More than 700 000 people had evacuated their homes according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. Many were housed in evacuation centers which could limit the death toll according to one official.
People were prepared for this one said Rene Paciente a forecaster with the Philippine government s national weather agency. They were given notice and they were evacuated.
In a nationally televised address President Benigno S. Aquino III had told Filipinos to prepare for the worst. Let us evacuate our homes if we are in danger zones he said. For those in coastal areas don t venture out to sea. Let s not risk our lives and those of rescue teams.
Local radio and television stations reported downed power lines impassible roads and flooding in some areas caused by surging ocean water. The city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte was inundated.
Before the typhoon made landfall some international forecasters were estimating wind speeds at 195 miles per hour which would make the storm one of the most powerful in history. But local forecasters later disputed those estimates. Some of the reports of wind speeds were exaggerated Mr. Paciente said.
According to Mr. Paciente the Philippine weather agency measured wind speeds on the eastern edge of the country at about 150 miles per hour with some tracking stations recording speeds as low as 100 miles per hour.
The United States Navy s Joint Typhoon Warning Center used satellite analysis to estimate sustained wind speeds at about 195 miles per hour with gusts up to 235 miles per hour but that measured just the center of the storm when it was over the ocean.
As far as satellite imagery was concerned it indicated that this was one of the strongest storms on record said Roger Edson the science and operations officer at the United States National Weather Service in Guam.
He said 195 mile per hour winds would put the storm off the charts but he acknowledged that satellite estimates require further study on the ground to check if they were accurate.
The Japan Meteorological Agency tracked wind speeds at about 145 miles per hour.
The storm was on a path to continue onto Vietnam in the next few days according to the United States Navy s Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu.
{ 0 comments... Views All / Send Comment! }
Post a Comment