Typhoon Parma

Pre-Landfall 1 | Summary
Posting Date: October 1, 2009, 12:13:00 PM

A powerful Category 4 storm in the northwest Pacific Ocean is approaching the Philippines today, with landfall expected Saturday morning north of the capital city of Manila (population 1,660,000), in Luzon. This storm comes less than a week after another tropical cyclone—Typhoon Ketsana—left hundreds dead in Manila and most of the city submerged by the heaviest rainfall accumulations in 40 years. According to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center’s 11:00 am advisory today, Typhoon Parma is currently located about 845 km (525 miles) east of Manila city, tracking westward at 22 kilometers per hour (13.7 miles per hour). Maximum sustained winds are 222 kph (138 mph), with higher gusts. The powerful storm could gain intensity into Friday, and residents are already evacuating the eastern coast of Luzon, which is not heavily populated. However, poor construction practices in the country and low quality materials mean many structures are highly susceptible to tropical cyclone damage. Most forecast models predict that Parma will slow down as it tracks past the northern Philippines island, bringing heavy precipitation and causing major property damage. The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA), however, predicts that Parma will make a hard right after landfall, maintain forward speed and regain some intensity as it heads towards Taiwan. Either way, the typhoon may bring additional precipitation to Manila’s streets, which are still recovering from the record one-day rainfall (41.1 centimeters (16 inches) in 12 hours) that Ketsana dropped last weekend. The homes of about 500,000 people were flooded, and 246 people were killed.

Pre-Landfall 1 | Downloads
Posting Date: October 1, 2009, 12:13:00 PM