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Haiphong Typhoon (1881)

The 1881 Haiphong typhoon, sometimes referred to as Tongking/Tonkin typhoon, is acknowledged as the third deadliest tropical storm in recorded history after the devastation it brought to the town of Haiphong (in modern day northern Vietnam) on October 8, 1881.

Gulf of Tonkin and Haiphong

The Gulf of Tonkin is known to be a common path for storm from the Philippines to Asian Mainland, and Haiphong lies about 10 miles from its coast and also on the Red River in a low elevation area (delta), connected to an access channel. By the time the typhoon landed in 1881, the town was still a young port established by the French in 1874.

Meteorological History

While the storm's category and strength is uncertain (like many disasters prior to the 20th century), records show that the storm developed near the Philippines in late September and by the time it hit Luzon (Philippine island) on September 30, it was already strong enough to cause casualties and disrupt society. Once it was in the South China Sea, its power increased again as it entered into the Gulf of Tonkin, avoiding anymore land before it hit the gulf's coast.

Impact/Casualties

Haiphong, being a low-lying port town, was devastated both physically and economically. Its geographical only made the damages escalate. With the high waves and winds, rice fields were flooded, buildings were decimated (and as a result, people either were drowned or left stranded), trees were ripped up, etc. By the time the typhoon passed, most of the town was wiped out.Then, due to the inability to operate as a port town, Haiphong's economy also took impact.

Together, Luzon and Haiphong lost an estimated amount of 300,000 due to the typhoon, but casualties likely went up even in the storm's passing due to disease and starvation.

Aftermath

The typhoon of 1881 is not a common occurrence because its path around Hainan is what made it so strong by the time it hit Haiphong. This has not happened since 1881, but analyses predict that it will happen again, but the Vietnamese government has taken action. Haiphong now has a flood defense system including dykes/levees (though not all of them are firm), a flood warning service provided by Vietnam's Meteorological Service, and evacuation plans. But Haiphong still serves as a port (and a major one today), so any large storms will harm the economy.

Rational

There are places where I realize are much more fortunate when it comes to typhoons. I know from experience that some places can hold up and these places some people are not worried. On the contrary because of storms, people are relieved that they don't have to go to work or school. This realization made me want to look up more about typhoons that have made a heavy impact in a place where there is little to no preparations. Of course, even well prepared cities shouldn't take storms too lightly.

Actions

• added two new references to article
• reviewed existing sources and took one down because of inability to find
• searched for plagiarism by sentence of phrases/clauses and came up with irrelevant (like articles about the Gulf of Tonkin Resolution) to semi-relevant pages (such as articles on other typhoons)

2003 Bendigo Tornado

The city of Bendigo is located in Victoria, a southeastern state in Australia. The tornado hit the city on May 18, 2003, and was rated as a F2 tornado, based on the Fujita scale with winds ranging from 130km/h to 150km/h at the core of the storm. This southeastern region of Australia has seen tornadoes in the past, but, according to the Bureau of Meteorology, the tornado was an unusual occurrence for central Victoria and the last similar event occurred in Wonthaggi in 1993.

Impacts/Casualties

The tornado traveled seven kilometers (or approximately 4.5 miles) through the suburbs of Eaglehawk and California Gully with a 500 meter (about 1640 feet) wide path in less than ten minutes. No one was injured, but the tornado left eight homes destroyed, 44 homes with serious damages, trees torn up, and power was lost in up to 18000 homes (located in Bendigo, California Gully, Eaglehawk, Epsom, Long Gully and Maiden Gully). Also, the tornado disrupted society as a whole with traffic disruption on the Loddon Valley Highway (runs from Bendigo to Kerang) and suspension of certain V/Line train lines. Overall, damages were estimated to cost up to millions of dollars.

The storm that accompanied the tornado also brought flash flooding in the suburbs of Strathfieldsaye and Flora Hill.

Aftermath

Emergency efforts quickly started to get the area safe and electricity back into homes. Victims were also given assistance, including:

• The Department of Human Services, a department with the responsibility of helping to provide aids and services to the people of Australia, helped those who became homeless due to storm damages.
• The State Emergency Service (SES), a volunteer organization that provides help after declared disasters, responded to 128 calls and 70 SES volunteers from 11 different units helped to rebuild houses.
• The state government gave grants of up to $22800 which includes an emergency funding of $900 per household for people to purchase short-term accommodations and necessary supplies.
• The Insurance Council of Australia covered wind and storm damages for the insured.

Contributions/Actions

• added three new sources; checked source previously added
• checked for plagiarism - none found except for one or two minor phrases consisting of three to four words
• reorganized previous information
• added on about the tornado's impacts, aftermath, and relation with the geographical location

Siaolin Village, Kaohsiung

The landslide started at 6:17 a.m. on August 9, 2009 due to the excessive rainfall brought by Typhoon Morakot. Typhoon Morakot brought more than 60% of the average rainfall (about 2440-3270 mm) and 85% of the total rainfall in 2009.

Impacts and Casualties

There are two parts of Siaolin Village, north and south. The north part is located at a lower elevation and was completely wiped out by the landslide while the south part was unaffected. Main sediment had only buried part of the village, but an artificial dam broke, burying the rest of it.

Tourism and agriculture, the village's main industry, were put to a complete halt in the village. Rescuers and soldiers were dispatched by the government to look for survivors, but arrival was slow due to the amount of debris and continuous fall of rain. Many people were still trapped several days after the disaster and was in urgent need for assistance.

This mass movement of land resulted in the deaths of more than 400 people and a landslide dam being created in the Qishan River. The devastation and the lost of lives, though not directly resulting from flooding or winds but from another disaster caused by excessive saturation of the land, has made Typhoon Morakot the deadliest since the Taiwan's typhoon warning system in 1992. Measurements were also taken of the and the average depth of the landslide was approximated to be 44.6 mm.

Contributions/Actions

• reorganized previous information
• added three new sources (two journals and one article); checked existing sources
• added on impacts on the industries and ecosystems, rescue, how landslide made the typhoon deadliest in Taiwan, how broken dam effected the severity of the disaster
• checked for plagiarism - none found