Typhoon Parma

Landfall | Summary
Posting Date: October 5, 2009, 7:31:00 AM

On Saturday, 3 October, Category 1 Typhoon Parma made landfall in the northeastern Philippines, sparing the city of Manila but flooding over a dozen villages in the province of Cagayan, to the north, with precipitation exceeding 200 millimeters (7.9 inches). Parma's maximum sustained winds at landfall were 145 kilometers per hour (90 miles per hour). The following day, even as the typhoon exited the country, it continued to impact Cagayan with heavy wind and rain—leaving large swaths of the province without power and ruining crops. The storm killed at least 15 people. As of the Joint Typhoon Warning Center's (JTWC) 5:00 UTC advisory today, Parma is about 675 kilometers (420 miles) east-southeast of Hong Kong, moving north-northwestward in the South China Sea at approximately 13 kilometers per hour (8 mph). Maximum sustained winds are 120 kph (75 mph), down from 148 kph (91 mph) at landfall. Parma is a weak Category 1 typhoon. Parma may touch down again in Taiwan later this week but currently its track is uncertain; the storm will come between two steering systems later today. High pressure to its west would turn it in a southwest direction such that it would track along the west side of Luzon and then on towards southern China. High pressure to Parma's east would turn it northward, towards Taiwan. Which system will ultimately control Parma's path is not known with much certainty at this time. Additionally complicating Parma's path, Super Typhoon Melor may come close enough to Parma to lead to the Fujiwhara Effect—the process by which two typhoons rotate around each other for some period of time. This would also cause Parma to turn southwest, versus north towards Taiwan. Forecasters say Melor is already interacting with Parma, preventing its forward progress in the South China Sea. Parma's slow forward motion will allow it to regain some organization and strength over the next couple of days and possibly linger near its current location for the next five. In advance of Parma's arrival in the Philippines Saturday, about 170,000 people evacuated their homes. While many new buildings in the country are constructed of concrete and masonry materials, others—including houses—are made of materials like bamboo with thatched roofs; they are highly vulnerable to typhoon elements. When Parma struck Saturday, its strong winds blew the roofs off many homes. Others were destroyed by flooding as over a dozen farming villages were inundated following the overflow of the mouth of the Cagayan River. Flooding in coastal villages was exacerbated by the collapse of a seawall. Despite police and navy efforts, at least one village remains isolated by floodwater. Flooding damage was not restricted to buildings and homes; Cagayan province is an important agricultural region for the nation. Parma's heavy rain submerged large spans of important crops, namely rice, and this crop damage could lead to supply problems in coming months. On Friday, 2 October, a day before making landfall, Parma was a Category 4 storm in the Pacific. It curved farther northward than models predicted before striking the Philippines nation, and it weakened significantly, too. Officials were relieved that the nation's capital, Manila, was not in Parma's path; just eight days earlier, Manila was left awash by Typhoon Ketsana, which brought record one-day rainfall (41.1 centimeters in 12 hours) and flooded the homes of about 500,000 people, in addition to killing 300. The AIR Tropical cyclone team will continue to monitor the progress of both Parma and Melor and will issue updates, as warranted.

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Posting Date: October 5, 2009, 7:31:00 AM