Wikipedia

Typhoons in Taiwan

Taiwan is one of the most typhoon-prone countries in Southeast Asia, just near the Philippines. Multiple typhoons enter Taiwan every year, out of tens of typhoons in the West Pacific. Typhoons regularly enter east of the country, making its way to the western side, if no obstructions are found.

Typhoon tracks going to Taiwan.

Typhoon Morakot[a] is the deadliest typhoon to affect Taiwan, with a category 1 categorization. The typhoon caused an estimated amount of 650 fatalities, with 6.2billion dollars in damage.[b][1] Another strong typhoon which affected Taiwan is Typhoon Gaemi in 2024, which was the strongest typhoon to hit the island in eight years.[c][2]

History

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Pre-1900s

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Georgle Leslie Mackay at Taiwan.

A Chinese word, Tai, (meaning Typhoon), appeared in multiple books originating from Taiwan. Weather observatories were later introduced in Taiwan from the late 1890s, during the colonial era of the Japanese armed forces. The 1897 Pacific typhoon season was the first season that the Taiwanese government recorded. In a diary written by George Leslie Mackay, there were observations of 19 typhoons between 1871 and 1894. There were also 15 recorded typhoons in a historical dataset not mentioned by Mackay.[3]

World War era (1900-1950)

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After the 1900s, weather observatories were deemed as an official part of the Governor-General's office. The Best Track data system was also introduced in 1944. Typhoon tracking was also heavily improved after the world wars, with multiple added features.[3]

1950s

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Multiple records were compiled, including a 100-year compilation from 1897 to 1998.[3]

Area

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See also: Philippine Area of Responsibility

Taiwan lies in PAGASA's Philippine Area of Responsibility, meaning that a typhoon entering Taiwan will also enter PAGASA's responsibility, automatically giving the typhoon a local name and monitoring and issuing warnings.[4]

Typhoons

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Pre-1900s

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A major typhoon, which was the first major recorded typhoon to affect Taiwan, named Typhoon No. 1, was recorded, with the final result appearing in the Governor-General's office. Multiple bridges were broken, with the first operating railway in Taiwan getting destroyed.[3]

1900s

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1940s

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Track of Typhoon Ursula.

In September 1945, Typhoon Ursula directly hit Taiwan, killing 120 army soldiers, and killing another 20 in the ground.[5] A year later, in 1946, Typhoon Querida rounded over Southern Taiwan, killing 154 and damaged 373,000 homes.[6]

2000s

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2010s

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In July 2018, Typhoon Maria affected the northern portion of Taiwan. As it passed north, heavy rain and gusty winds marked the temporary closure of schools and workplaces.[7] The typhoon also caused 59,485 households to lose power.[8]

 
Typhoon Gaemi slowly drifting to Taiwan.

In August 2019, Typhoon Lekima impacted Taiwan,[d] killing two people and leading 80,000 households to have power outages.[9] The typhoon was also accompanied with a Magnitude 6.0 earthquake.[10]

In September 2019, Typhoon Mitag indirectly impacted Taiwan. A warning was created,[11] and the government ordered closure of financial markets and schools among warnings of high winds and floods.[12]

2020s

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In May 2021, Tropical Storm Choi-wan impacted the eastern side of Taiwan, creating warnings.[13] Roads were flooded,[14] while multiple districts recorded heavy rains.[15]

In August 2021, Tropical Storm Lupit impacted Taiwan, multiple warnings were created,[16] with 501 individuals being trapped after a bridge collapse.[17] 4 people were later pronounced dead,[18] and one person was missing.[19]

In September 2021, Super-typhoon Typhoon Chanthu impacted the eastern side of Taiwan, making 26,000 homes lose power and adding heavy rainfall to Taiwan, bringing waves a size of 7 metres (23 ft).[20]

In July 2023, Typhoon Doksuri drifted to Southern Taiwan, raising warnings in various places.[21] 278,000 homes later lost power,[22] with one woman dying in Taiwan.[23]

In August 2023, Typhoon Haikui directly hit Taiwan, with 8,000 people evacuating.[24] 217,000 houses lost electricity with the typhoon, with multiple floods, and rainfall.[25]

In September 2023, Typhoon Koinu passed Taiwan, with classes dismissed, flights cancelled, and record-breaking winds.[26][27] Two major roads were blocked,[28] with 10.72 million dollars of agricultural damage.[29]

In 2024, a category-4 typhoon named Gaemi, directly hit Taiwan. Hundreds of flights were cancelled,[30] with 8,000 people fleeing to evacuation centers.[31] A total of 10 people was killed, with a ship capsizing, naming it the deadliest typhoon to ever hit Taiwan in eight years.[32][33]

Deadliest cyclones

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Rank Storm Date Deaths Reference
1 Typhoon Morakot August 2009 789 [1]
2 Typhoon Doksuri July 2023 137 [23]
3 Typhoon Gaemi July 2024 126 [2]
4 Typhoon Lekima August 2019 105 [9]
5 Typhoon Mitag September 2019 22 [12]
 
Typhoon Morakot, the deadliest typhoon to ever affect Taiwan.

See also

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Notes

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  1. ^ Known in the Philippines as Typhoon Kiko
  2. ^ 2009 USD
  3. ^ Mostly because Taiwan was presented at the eye of the storm.
  4. ^ Indirectly

References

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  1. ^ a b "Typhoon Morakot Situation Report No. 1 | OCHA". www.unocha.org. 2009-08-19. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  2. ^ a b Chien, Amy Chang (2024-07-24). "Powerful Typhoon Slams Into Taiwan With Wind and Rain". The New York Times. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved 2024-08-22.
  3. ^ a b c d Hung, Chih-wen (18 February 2013). "A 300-Year Typhoon Record in Taiwan and the Relationship with Solar Activity" (PDF). Retrieved 22 August 2024.
  4. ^ "PAGASA". bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  5. ^ Griffin-Elliott, Thia. "70th Anniversary of Typhoon Ursula". Laboratorio Oceanográfico y Meteorológico del Atlántico de NOAA (in Spanish). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  6. ^ "Typhoons on the Southeastern Coast of China and Formosa" (PDF). Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  7. ^ "Typhoon Maria halts work, classes in Taiwan - Xinhua | English.news.cn". www.xinhuanet.com. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  8. ^ "Taiwan News － Breaking News, Politics, Environment, Immigrants, Travel, and Health". www.taiwannews.com.tw. Retrieved 2024-08-23.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link)
  9. ^ a b "利奇馬風災2死15傷 8萬戶停電". UDN. Archived from the original on 30 June 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  10. ^ "利奇馬颱風來襲 教育部初估學校災損524萬". UDN. Archived from the original on 10 August 2019. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  11. ^ "Overall Orange Tropical Cyclone alert for MITAG-19 in China, Japan, Korea, Republic of from 27 Sep 2019 06:00 UTC to 03 Oct 2019 06:00 UTC". www.gdacs.org. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  12. ^ a b "Taiwan orders markets, schools closed as strong typhoon approaches". CNBC. 2019-09-30. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  13. ^ "Taiwan issues land warning for Tropical Storm Choi-Wan - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2021-06-03. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  14. ^ Charlier, Phillip (2021-06-04). "Northern Taiwan pelted with rain: flood warnings issued for Greater Taipei". Taiwan English News. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  15. ^ "Afternoon downpour causes flooding in parts of Taipei - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2021-06-04. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  16. ^ 中央通訊社 (2021-08-07). "14縣市豪大雨來襲 屏東高雄列淹水一二級警戒 | 生活 | 重點新聞". 中央社 CNA (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  17. ^ 中央通訊社 (2021-08-08). "高雄桃源區501人受困 黑鷹載300公斤物資投放馳援 | 地方 | 重點新聞". 中央社 CNA (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  18. ^ 中央通訊社 (2021-08-06). "夫妻到仁愛鄉德魯灣橋下捕魚 失足落水雙亡 | 社會". 中央社 CNA (in Chinese). Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  19. ^ Charlier, Phillip (2021-08-12). "Indigenous representative visiting stranded villagers swept away by flooded stream". Taiwan English News. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  20. ^ "Typhoon Chanthu drenches Taiwan but spares island a direct hit". Channel News Asia. 12 September 2021. Archived from the original on 15 September 2021. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  21. ^ "Taiwan issues land warning for Typhoon Doksuri - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2023-07-25. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  22. ^ "Typhoon Doksuri makes landfall in China's Fujian province after battering Taiwan". 28 July 2023. Archived from the original on 28 July 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  23. ^ a b "One dead in Hualien amid Typhoon Doksuri flooding - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2023-07-27. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  24. ^ CHANG, Sean; WANG, Amber. "Storm Haikui heads to China after double landfall in Taiwan". phys.org. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  25. ^ "As Typhoon Haikui barrels into Taiwan, thousands are evacuated". Reuters. 4 September 2023. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  26. ^ "Taiwan Braces for Typhoon Koinu". earthobservatory.nasa.gov. 2023-10-04. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  27. ^ "Typhoon Koinu brings Taiwan's highest-ever wind speeds to Orchid Island - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2023-10-05. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  28. ^ "Typhoon Koinu agricultural losses estimated at NT$340 million - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2023-10-08. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  29. ^ "Typhoon Koinu kills 1, injures nearly 400 in Taiwan - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2023-10-06. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  30. ^ Berrazzeg, Walid (23 July 2024). "Markets, work suspended as Typhoon Gaemi barrels towards Taiwan". Reuters. Retrieved 23 August 2024.
  31. ^ "3 dead, 227 injured across Taiwan as Typhoon Gaemi nears - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2024-07-24. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  32. ^ "Typhoon Gaemi causes 10 deaths, 895 injuries in Taiwan - Focus Taiwan". Focus Taiwan - CNA English News. 2024-07-27. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
  33. ^ "Typhoon hits China after causing deaths and injuries in Taiwan and Philippines". BBC News. Retrieved 2024-08-23.
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