Morakot: An Early Dividend of Climate Change

Foreboding Future of Climate Change

Morakot dumps record 2,500mm of rain on parts of Taiwan

In Taiwan, typhoon Morakot dumped a record 2,500 mm (100 inches) of rain on Pingtung County,  officials said Tuesday, causing severe flooding in at least three coastal towns and a dozen more villages.

The storm triggered the worst flooding in Taiwan in living memory, killing at least 50 people and injuring dozens more. About 60 people were reported missing, with another 400 – 600 people unaccounted for.

In China, Morakot has affected up to 12 million people in four coastal  provinces, killing at least 10 people with dozens more injured. The storm destroyed a many as 10,000 homes, reports said.

Slow-Moving Typhoon Morakot Soakes Taiwan

After the slow-moving typhoon Morakot made landfall in Tawian, it soaked the southern part of the island with heavy rain between August 3 and 9, 2009, generating deadly landslides. The largest slide occurred in the southern mountains of Taiwan.

This image of the rainfall accumulation along Morakot’s path through the western Pacific is based on estimates from the near-real-time, Multi-satellite Precipitation Analysis, which is produced by scientists at NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center. The analysis depends on data from the Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission satellite. Increasing storm intensity (beginning with Tropical Depression) is indicated by darker shades of red. Morakot intensified to Category 2 strength prior to landfall. Highest rainfall totals (greater than 900 millimeters, or about 34 inches) are dark blue, and they are concentrated over the mountains of southern Taiwan. According to BBC news, the flooding in Taiwan is the worst in 50 years. NASA image by Jesse Allen, using near-real-time data provided courtesy of TRMM Science Data and Information System at Goddard Space Flight Center. Caption by Rebecca Lindsey. [Edited by FEWW.]

In this image taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, and released by the Taiwan Military News Agency on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009, a soldier sifts through debris from Typhoon Morakot in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung county. A mudslide touched off by the deadly typhoon buried a remote mountain village in Taiwan, leaving at least 400 people unaccounted for, while officially there are 38 dead and 62 missing. (Taiwan Military News Agency/via AP).

In this image taken on Monday, Aug. 10, 2009, and released by the Taiwan Military News Agency on Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2009, an aerial view of the flooded village of Shao Lin inflicted by Typhoon Morakot is seen in southern Taiwan’s Kaohsiung county. A mudslide touched off by the deadly typhoon buried a remote mountain village in Taiwan, leaving at least 400 people unaccounted for, while officially there are 38 dead and 62 missing. (Taiwan Military News Agency/via AP).

Related Links:

• Typhoon Morakot Churns Over China
• Typhoon Etau Wreaks Havoc Along Coast of Honshu, Japan

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