PDC News - China Endures Strongest Typhoon in 50 Years

PDC News | August 14, 2006


	China Endures Strongest Typhoon in 50 Years

After making landfall along coastal China with sustained winds of 135 miles per hour—the equivalent of a Category 4 hurricane—Typhoon Saomai has claimed over 250 lives with nearly 200 people missing, according to BBC. The storm caused in excess of $1.4 billion (U.S.) in damage and destroyed over 50,000 houses. As reported by CNN, 1.6 million residents of Fujian and Zhejiang provinces were evacuated as the storm approached. Particularly hard hit was the coastal city of Wenzhou, where over 18,000 houses were destroyed.

Saomai, reported to be the most powerful storm to impact China in half a century, is the eighth major storm to make landfall in China this year.

Please click on the links below for the information on this situation:

Date	Latest Updates
Ongoing	Information from PDC's Natural Hazards Atlas.
Ongoing	Disaster briefs from AlertNet and ReliefWeb.
Ongoing	Daily reporting from the Center of Excellence in Disaster Management and Humanitarian Assistance.
Ongoing	Coverage from the BBC.

Left: Graphical track map and wind damage assessment for tropical cyclones Saomai and Bopha, as shown through the Asia Pacific edition of the Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas at 00:00 UTC on August 10 (2:00 p.m. HST on August 9 and 8:00 a.m. local time on August 10). Population density is represented by darker shades of orange; estimated wind damage to mobile homes or lightly-built structures is depicted in the green, orange, and red areas along Saomai's storm track. Tropical depression Bopha can also be seen.

Right: Graphical track for tropical cyclone Saomai, as shown through the Asia Pacific edition of the Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas at 20:00 UTC, August 10 (10:00 a.m. HST, 4:00 a.m. local time, August 11). Population density is represented by darker shades of orange. Please click on the image to access the latest information through the Natural Hazards and Vulnerabilities Atlas.

Please click on either image for full view.


Above: Devastation in the aftermath of Typhoon Saomai’s landfall along coastal China. (Images: BBC)


Above: Impacts from Saomai’s landfall included damage to roadways (left) and the destruction of buildings (right)—over 50,000 homes were destroyed by the typhoon. (Images: Reuters)