Super Typhoon HAIYAN: Casualties Could Top Many Thousands

HAIYAN: A new breed of “intelligent,” “designer” typhoons with built-in “power-preserver mechanism”

FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models show the impact of Super Typhoon HAIYAN in the Philippines as a magnitude 6.2 catastrophe on the FEWW Disaster Scale, indicating large-scale regional destruction with up to 40,000 casualties. 

Few houses standing in Tacloban, Leyte province, Philippines:  Disaster Official

“Almost all houses were destroyed […] Only a few houses are left standing, but with partial damages,” Major Rey Balido, a spokesman for the national disaster agency, told Reuters.

Typhoon HAIYAN was downgraded to a Cat. 4A storm force on the FEWW New Hurricane Scale racing toward Indochina Peninsula, over the warm (29ºC) waters of South China Sea, at a forward speed of about 35 km/hr, as of posting (04:30UTC).

Typhoon HAIYAN -VISIBLE/INFRARED  [FIRE-EARTH Enhancement] satellite image  – recorded at 03:30UTC on November 9, 2013. Original image sourced from: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

Typhoon HAIYAN – IR/Water Vapor Difference [FIRE-EARTH Enhancement] satellite image (recorded at 03:30UTC on November 9, 2013. Original image sourced from: CIMSS/SSEC/WISC.

More details to follow…

UPDATES

• As of 12:00UTC the typhoon-related death toll had climbed to 1,200, but it’s expected to rise sharply.

• Large scale devastation has occurred in the islands of Leyte and Samar, which is consistent with FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models.

• At least 36 provinces, out of a total of 80, have been severely affected.

• FIRE-EARTH Disaster Models estimate the total cost of damage at more than $5billion.

• At least 4.3 million people have been affected including about 350,000 who have lost their homes, according to the Philippines National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).

• The Super Typhoon pummeled seven of the country’s 17 regions, causing large-scale power outages across much of the disaster areas.

• There are numerous reports of widespread looting across the disaster zone.

• Dozens of towns throughout the disaster zone have declared states of calamity.

• HAIYAN is currently targeting South China, moving close  to Vietnam shoreline, according to revised projections suggested by several models. This would be a nightmare scenario for Vietnam because the typhoon could dump 4 to 6 times more rain over the country, and affect a much larger land area, than previously forecast, according to FIRE-EARTH Models.

This post will be updated throughout Saturday.

Related Links

• Extraterrestrial Typhoon Force Generating 20-Meter “Tsunami” November 8, 2013
• Super Typhoon HAIYAN’S Arm Battering the Philippines November 7, 2013
• “Extraterrestrial” Typhoon HAIYAN – Image Update November 6, 2013
• HAIYAN Intensifying to “Extraterrestrial” Levels November 6, 2013
• Potential Super Typhoon Headed for the Philippines November 4, 2013
• Typhoon KROSA Destroys or Damages 19,000 Homes in Philippines  November 2, 2013
• FEWW New Hurricane Scale
• Satellite Imagery