“Twin-engine” hurricanes, “Supercharged” Typhoons
Posted by feww on October 1, 2009
Super Typhoon Parma May Churn Manila to Vanila : Update #1
On Thursday, October 1, 2009 at about 08:00 UTC, Parma became a super typhoon. It’s expected to gain more strength before landfall.
Will it or won’t it?
It’s academic whether Parma will directly strike Manila. More rain for a city already buried in chest-high floodwater is just as deadly.
Could Manila Collapse?
Could Manila collapse as a result of devastation caused by the combined impact of the storms Ketsana, Parma (and Melor, next week), as well as possible earthquakes triggered by landslides and massive mud avalanches, AND a highly probable catastrophic eruption of TAAL VOLCANO?
One way to find out is to wait and see! Another, is to stay tuned to FEWW forecasts and comments posted on this blog.
See also: The First Wave of Collapsing Cities
Super Typhoon Parma (see inset for date and time) – MTSAT/NPMOC/JTWC – Click on image to enlarge and view latest update.
Typhoon Parma – October 1, 2009
As the death toll from Tropical Storm Ketsana continued to climb, residents of the Philippines braced for Typhoon Parma, which continued its westward path across the Pacific Ocean on October 1, 2009. The same day, the Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image. Coastlines of the Philippines appear in black, and storm clouds hide the satellite’s view of most of the land areas. Clouds actually fill most of this image, with the eye of the storm appearing in the right half of the picture and long arms extending westward over land. NASA image by Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team, Goddard Space Flight Center. [Original caption edited by FEWW]
Typhoon Parma – September 30, 2009
Tropical Storm [Now Super Typhoon] Parma headed westward over the Pacific Ocean, en route to the northern Philippines on September 30, 2009. The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this true-color image the same day. NASA image created by Jesse Allen, using data provided courtesy of the MODIS Rapid Response team. Caption by Michon Scott. [Edited by FEWW]
Latest Details (as of posting)
- Position: near 12.7N 129.1 E.
- Location: Approximately 520 NM East-Southeast of Manila, Philippines AST-
- Moving WNW at a forward speed of about 16 knots
- Intensity: Super Typhoon; expected to further intensify before landfall probably on NE coast of Luzon
Super typhoon Parma is already affecting the country
A Main Street in suburban Cainta, east of Manila, flooded chest-deep. Sunday, September 27, 2009. Mike Alquinto / AP Photo. Image may be subject to copyright.
What will the people do?
- Forced evacuations in northern provinces may occur, ahead of the Parma’s landfall.
- Parma would bring more torrential rains causing a second wave of chaos across Manila and nearby provinces by impeding what little relief efforts some 2.5 million people are receiving after their lives were turned upside-down by TS Katsana.
- More people are bound to perish from the impact of Parma.
- So far 277 people have been confirmed killed in the wake of Ketsana, with 42 still missing. The numbers would rise further.
- Up to 700,000 people who lost their homes to landslides and mud avalanches in Manila and nearby provinces are currently staying in makeshift evacuation centers. The psychological and physical impacts of living in cramped condition for prolonged periods of time would be devastating, especially among children.
Satellite animation of Typhoons Parma and Melor in the Pacific Ocean
Related Links:
Fire Earth 
msy said
that’s so amazing it its so strong …
Parma Hampers Recovert Efforts in Vietnam « Fire Earth said
[…] Super Typhoon Parma May Churn Manila to Vanila … Philippines Taal […]
Ketsana and Parma May Have Permanently Affected Luzon « Fire Earth said
[…] October 1, 2009, as Parma became a “super Typhoon, the moderators […]
terres said
Storm lingers after killing 16 in Philippines
By JIM GOMEZ (AP) – 3 hours ago
MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon Parma weakened into a tropical storm that lingered off the Philippine coast Monday, drenching northern provinces as well as Taiwan after killing 16 people and causing widespread flooding and landslides.
Chief government forecaster Nathaniel Cruz said Parma headed northwest into the South China Sea after passing over the Philippines, which is still reeling from an earlier storm that killed almost 300 people. Parma was now almost still because Typhoon Melor, which was approaching from the west, was pulling it back toward the coast.
Parma was not expected to make another landfall but will continue to dump heavy rain, Cruz said. The storm was located 143 miles (230 kilometers) off northern Laoag city, packing winds of 59 mph (95 kph) and gusts of up to 75 mph (120 kph).
Typhoon Melor over the northern Pacific Ocean was pushing west, Cruz said. It did not pose a direct threat to the rain-soaked northern Philippines, he said.
Parma hit the main island of Luzon on Saturday. Flooding and landslides over the weekend killed at least 16 people, but the capital, Manila — still awash in floodwaters from a storm barely a week earlier — was spared a new disaster.
In Taiwan, authorities had issued landslide and flash flooding warnings for eastern and southern areas in preparation, and evacuated 6,582 residents from vulnerable regions.
Parma spared the island its full brunt Monday, veering off its southwestern coast.
Still, it brought very heavy rains. The Central Weather Bureau reported 29 inches (746 millimeters) of precipitation in the eastern county of Yilan since Sunday. That comes just weeks after a deadly typhoon hit southern Taiwan causing torrential rains and the island’s worst flooding in decades.
Parma hit the Philippines just eight days after a Tropical Storm Ketsana inundated Manila and surrounding provinces, killing almost 300 people. Saturday’s storm dropped more rain on the capital, slowing the cleanup and making conditions more miserable.
Still, classes in and around Manila were reopened Monday after a weeklong closure, except where schools were turned into evacuation centers.
At the Santa Elena High School in flood-hit Marikina city, east of Manila, muddied teachers and students turned up for class. They were still coming to terms with their ordeal.
“We were near tears because of the situation, especially over the past days when the students were texting us that they have lost their homes,” said teacher Virma Mariano. “We have teachers who went through a near-death experience when they were being chased by the flood, they went from one roof to the other.”
Last week, Ketsana killed at least 288 people and damaged the homes of 3 million in the Philippines before striking other Southeast Asian nations, killing 162 in Vietnam, 18 in Cambodia and at least 16 in Laos.
Associated Press writers Teresa Cerojano in Manila and Peter Enav in Taipei, Taiwan, contributed to this report.
Copyright © 2009 The Associated Press. All rights reserved.
feww said
(UPDATE3) Cagayan in ‘chaos’ as Pepeng makes landfall
MANILA – Cagayan province was in “chaos” due to violent winds and tremendous rains that hit the province after Typhoon Pepeng (international codename Parma) made landfall around 3 p.m. Saturday, officials said.
Aileen Torres, administrator of the Philippine National Red Cross in Cagayan, said their 140 volunteers have sought shelter after reporting that several areas were “very hard to penetrate.”
“[Everything] was in chaos. Branches all over area scattered in several places. Power supply was cut off,” Torres told ANC as she described the situation in the province.
Chito Castro, head of the Office of Civil Defense in Cagayan Valley, said the typhoon was blowing “very, very strong winds” over the province.
Castro said several trees were being uprooted while ABS-CBN correspondent Jorge Cariño reported that several roofs have been torn off houses. Communication lines have also been cut off, reports added.
Torres said water have overwhelmed two bridges in Tuao town and Tuguegarao City and have been rendered impassable.
She said they were able to evacuate at least 50 families from four villages in Tuao and Sta. Ana towns before Pepeng made landfall in the province.
Based on the satellite image released by weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) at 3 p.m., Pepeng’s circulation was already covering Cagayan Valley.
Other Cagayan Valley provinces, including Isabela, Batanes, Quirino, and Nueva Vizcaya have also been experiencing Pepeng’s wrath.
The weather bureau had earlier expected Pepeng to make landfall early Saturday evening over Cagayan, but its speed suddenly accelerated around 1:00 p.m.
Nathaniel Cruz, PAGASA’ spokesman, said they expect Pepeng to make landfall at 3 p.m., four hours ahead of the weather bureau’s earlier prediction.
The weather bureau said in its 1:30 p.m. report that the typhoon significantly accelerated from 17 kilometers per hour to 24 kph. It moved west northwest with maximum sustained winds of 175 kph and gusts of up to 210 kph.
The typhoon was expected to cross northern Luzon overnight and move 260 kilometers west of Basco Batanes or 270 kilometers northwest of Laoag City by Sunday morning.
PAGASA hoisted Signal No. 3 over Cagayan, Batanes Group of Island, Babuyan and Calayan islands, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Mountain Province, Abra, Apayao, Kalinga and northern part of Isalea.
Signal No. 2 was raised over the rest of Isabela, Ifugao, Nueva Vizcaya, Benguet and La Union while the provinces of Quirino, Aurora, Nueva Ecija and Pangasinan were under Signal No. 1.
Rains over Metro Manila
Cruz said the concentration of rainfall from Pepeng will pour over the western side of northern and central Luzon, including Metro Manila.
He said more rains were expected to fall starting 8 p.m. Saturday and the downpour will continue until Monday night.
Cruz reiterated that the amount of rainfall of Pepeng will be lesser compared to that of dumped by tropical storm Ondoy (international codename Ketsana), which flooded a large part of Metro Manila on Saturday.
Susan Espinueva, head of PAGASA’s hydrometeorological services, said only areas in Rizal, Laguna and Marikina are in danger of experiencing higher levels of floodwaters because of the spilling Laguna de Bay.
Espinueva, meanwhile, reported that they are not expecting floods in Isabela and Aurora provinces because the water level in Pantabangan Dam, which throws water to Cagayan River, has already normalized.
She said the release of waters from Angat, Ambuclao and Magat dams continued as of 10 a.m., but calmed fears of flashfloods in surrounding areas.
Preemptive evacuation
President Gloria Macapagal Arroyo on Friday placed the country under a state of calamity as she ordered preemptive evacuations in areas expected to be hit by the typhoon.
The National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC) reported Saturday morning that thousdands of people living in critical areas in La Union, Cagayan, Isabela, Batanes, Quirino provinces have been evacuated.
More than 20,000 families or more than 100,000 people have also been evacuated in Bicol and a few hundred more were brought to evacuation centers in the Calabarzon area.
The government has also announced the allotment of a P100 million calamity fund for the continuing relief efforts for the victims of tropical storm Ondoy, which entered the country last week and left nearly 300 people dead and 42 more missing.
At the NDCC briefing on Saturday morning, PAGASA head Frisco Nilo said coastal areas on the eastern seaboard of northern Luzon, including Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, Quezon and Catanduanes should still watch out for storm surge, which may be triggered by Pepeng’s strong winds.
as of 10/03/2009 4:21 PM
Copyright © 2008 ABS-CBN Interactive All rights reserved.
http://www.abs-cbnnews.com/nation/10/03/09/pagasa-lifts-storm-signal-metro-manila
terres said
Breaking News
Typhoon ‘Pepeng’ changes course, heads to Cagayan
(philstar.com) Updated October 03, 2009 12:38 AM
MANILA, Philippines — Typhoon ‘Pepeng” (international name: Parma) has changed course and is now heading to Cagayan instead of Aurora-Isabela area in northern Luzon as earlier forecast, according to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
The weather bureau said as of 11 p.m., “Pepeng” was spotted at 200 kms North Northeast of Virac, Catanduanes or 380 kilometers southeast of Aparri, Cagayan, with maximum sustained winds of 175 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 210 kph. It is moving at 13 kph.
Pagasa said the typhoon is expected to make landfall in Northern Cagayan this evening (Oct. 3) and would be 130 kilometers northwest of Aparri by Sunday evening and 170 kilometers west of Baco, Batanes by Monday evening.
As of 11 p.m., typhoon signal no. 3 is still in effect Catanduanes, signal no. 2 in Cagayan, Isabela, Aurora, Quirino, Northern Quezon, Polilio Islands, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.
Meanwhile, Babuyan Group of Islands, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Apayao, Abra, Kalinga, Mt. Province, Ifugao, Nueva Viscaya, Benguet, La Union, Pangasinan, Tarlac, Nueva Ecija, Zambales, Bataan, Pampanga, Bulacan, Laguna, Batangas, Cavite, Rizal, rest of Quezon, Marinduque, Albay, Burias Islands, Sorsogon and Metro Manila were placed under storm signal no. 1.
Pagasa reiterates its warning to residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes under signals no. 3, no. 2 and no. 1 to take all the necessary precautionary measures against possible flashfloods and landslides.
Copyright © 2009. Philstar. All Rights Reserved
http://www.philstar.com/Article.aspx?articleId=510808
feww said
“Super typhoon” bears down on flood-ravaged Philippines
“The Philippines declared a nationwide state of calamity on Friday as a “super typhoon” bore down days after flash floods killed nearly 300 people in and around Manila.
“Typhoon Parma, 180 km (110 miles) northeast of the island of Catanduanes in the central Philippines, was gaining strength as it churned west-northwest toward the Luzon mainland, bringing heavy rain.
“It was expected to make landfall near the northeastern province of Isabela on Saturday. The area is mountainous and not heavily populated, but Parma was likely to lash Luzon with rain over the next two days, making life worse in flood-hit regions.
“We’re concerned about the effects of more rain on the relief work in flooded areas because the water level could rise again,” Defence Secretary Gilberto Teodoro said in a briefing aired live on national television. More ….
http://www.reuters.com/article/topNews/idUSTRE5910VE20091002?sp=true