Cyclone, hurricane, typhoon: different names, same phenomenon — TalkVietnam

They may have different names according to the region they hit, but typhoons, hurricanes and cyclones are all violent tropical storms that can generate 10 times as much energy as the Hiroshima atomic bomb.

The typhoon that devastated the Philippines, wiping out entire towns with a death toll that could soar well over 10,000, is the Asian term for a low-pressure system that is called a hurricane in the Atlantic and northeast Pacific and a cyclone in the South Pacific and Indian Ocean.
But meteorologists use the term “tropical cyclone” when talking generally about these immensely powerful natural phenomena, which are divided into five categories according to the maximum sustained wind force and the scale of the potential damage they can inflict.
Super Typhoon Haiyan, which is now heading towards Vietnam, was a category 5 typhoon – the highest level – when it hit the Philippines, with maximum sustained winds estimated at 315 kilometres (196 miles) an hour, and gusts reaching 380 kilometres an hour, according to Japan’s meteorological agency.
The winds are reported to be the strongest ever measured, and Haiyan could wrest the title of most powerful cyclone on record from Super Typhoon Tip, which ravaged Japan in 1979.
The Philippines endures a seemingly never-ending onslaught of deadly typhoons, earthquakes, volcano eruptions and other natural disasters.
Every year, some 20 super storms or typhoons hit the country, of the 80 or so that develop above tropical waters annually.
Cyclones are formed from simple thunderstorms at certain times of the year when the sea temperature is more than 26 degrees Celsius (79 Fahrenheit) down to a depth of 60 metres (200 feet).
Sucking up vast quantities of water, they often produce torrential rains and flooding resulting in major loss of life and property damage.
They also trigger large swells that move faster than the cyclone and are sometimes spotted up to 1,000 kilometres ahead of the powerful storm. The sea level can rise several metres.
These powerful weather formations can measure between 500 and 1,000 kilometres in diameter and have a relatively calm “eye” at the centre.
They weaken rapidly when they travel over land or colder ocean waters.
Cyclones are closely monitored by satellites, and specialised centres around the world – in Miami, Tokyo, Honolulu and New Delhi – track the super storms’ trajectories under the coordination of the World Meteorological Organisation.




Cyclone, hurricane, typhoon: different names, same phenomenon — TalkVietnam

Vietnam southern hub prepares for more typhoons | Look At Vietnam

Vietnam southern hub prepares for more typhoons 

April 14, 2012

Uprooted trees fall onto a taxi cab in Ho Chi Minh City during typhoon Pakhar on the night of April 1.

The Ho Chi Minh City government has ordered for various protective measures to be taken against typhoons, including planting more wind-resistant trees along roads.
Fears about the city’s low preparedness were realized when Typhoon Pakhar hit on the night of April 1, felling around 400 trees.
Faster, more comprehensive weather forecasts to help residents be better prepared are also a key requirement.
The Departments of Construction and Science and Technology were ordered to study new requirements to make buildings safe from typhoons.
HCMC is rarely hit by typhoons, the last severe one being in 1904, which killed around 1,000 people in the city and nearby provinces, according to the National Hydro-meteorological Forecast Center.
Thus, most people were taken by surprise by the first storm to form over the East Sea this year.

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Typhoon Pakhar kills 2, destroys numerous houses in Vietnam

City vice chairman Le Minh Tri said at a meeting held to review the damage April 2 that most residents have the misconception that the area is “immune” to natural disasters.
“Many houses and infrastructure facilities in the city cannot withstand such disasters,” he admitted.
The center said global warming is causing more typhoons in the East Sea and expects around seven to hit Vietnam this year instead of the usual one or two.
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Thanh Nien News 

Floods, landslides kill 50 in Vietnam, Thailand

Flash floods and landslides have killed 50 people in Vietnam and Thailand, swept away thousands of homes and inundated farmland, official reports said on Sunday.

In Vietnam, the death toll from typhoon Hagupit, which struck the Philippines and China earlier in the week, has jumped to 32 with another five people missing.

Thousands of homes were either washed away or destroyed by heavy rains and landslides in northern Vietnam, the government's storm and flood prevention committee said.

Hagupit, which means "lashing" in Filipino, killed at least eight people in the Philippines and three in China where it triggered a "once-in-a-century storm tide."

Vietnamese soldiers were dispatched to evacuate thousands of people from areas vulnerable to more flash floods and landslides in the mountainous provinces of Son La, Lang Son and Bac Giang.


Heavy rains on Sunday could trigger more landslides in the mountainous north, and flooding along the Thai Binh river, the National Meteorology Center said.

The Red River near the capital Hanoi was expected to reach dangerously high levels on Sunday, rising to 8.6 meters (28 ft), the center said.

Vietnam's main agriculture belt including the coffee-growing Central Highlands region and the Mekong Delta rice basket was not in the storm's path.

In Thailand, the death toll from floods triggered by heavy monsoon rains has risen to 18, while nearly 190,000 people have been treated for water-related illnesses and injuries, the Health Ministry said.

It said there were no major outbreaks of disease since the heavy rains began more than two weeks ago, affecting some 800,000 people in the country of 63 million.

Some 500,000 acres of farmland, most of it rice paddy, has been inundated, affecting roughly 2 percent of the total paddy for the 2008-09 growing season, according the Agriculture Ministry data.

(Reporting by Nguyen Nhat Lam and Arada Therdthammakun; Writing by Darren Schuettler; Editing by Jeremy Laurence)

Central region: 10 million people struggling with floods

photo by Chuck Kuhn

Annually, land between Thanh Hoa and Phu Yen provinces suffers 65% of the total typhoons, floods, and tropical depressions in Vietnam. How to mitigate the misfortunes of citizens in these areas was the matter discussed by experts at a recent workshop in the central city of Da Nang.

According to the Central Steering Board for Flood and Storm Control, typhoons and floods cause losses equivalent to 1% of Vietnam’s gross domestic product (GDP). The central region, with around 10 million, suffers the heaviest losses. Last year three floods killed 167 people, forced nearly 60,000 families to evacuate, and damaged more than 60,000ha of crops in the region.

There is a paradox that the rainfall didn’t increase but floods got more serious year on year. According to the Central Region Hydrometeorology Station, the average rainfall on major rivers like Vu Gia and Thu Bon of Quang Nam province was 1,300mm/day during the flood in November 1999, double that of the flood in early November 2007. However, the flood in 2007 was 0.2-0.5m higher than that in 1999.

Experts say people are harming themselves. Statistics by the forest sector show that Vietnam loses around 100,000ha of forest each year on average, which causes floods.

Another reason, according to Vice Chairman of Da Nang city, Tran Phuoc Chinh, is the upgrade and expansion of national highways, such as 1A, 14B, and the North-South railways, which prevent water drainage, resulting in longer floods.

The construction of coastal residential areas, tourist sites, hotels and resorts is the third reason as they change the flows of rivers, narrow seaports, etc.

Experts suggest that policy makers amend construction plans and build shelters from floods and storms for people in the central region.

In December 2007, the government assigned the Ministry of Construction to design a living-with-flood project for central provinces from Thanh Hoa to Phu Yen. The Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Ministry of Transport, Ministry of Finance, Ministry of Planning and Investment and the administrations of 11 related provinces must cooperate with the Ministry of Construction to implement this project.

(Source: VNE)