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Typhoon Talim
Status: Closed
| Type of posting | Posting date(EST): | Summary | Downloads |
|---|---|---|---|
| Landfall | 9/18/2017 10:45:00 AM |
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Landfall | Summary
Posting Date: September 18, 2017, 10:45:00 AM
Typhoon Talim made landfall midday on Sunday, September 17 (local time), in Kagoshima Prefecture on the southern tip of Kyushu Island, Japan. At landfall, Talim’s maximum sustained winds were reported at 111 km/h (79 mph)—the equivalent of a weak Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Scale; its minimum central pressure at landfall was 975 mb. It maintained its intensity as it traveled northward across Shikoku, Japan’s main island of Honshu, and Hokkaido through Monday.
Track map of Typhoon Talim as of 11:00 UTC on September 18, 2017. (Source: JMA)
Meteorological Summary
Talim formed to the southeast of Guam and the Mariana Islands on September 8. It then traveled northeastward across the Philippian Sea toward Taiwan over the next week, intensifying along its path. Having never touched Taiwan, the storm turned northwestward to cross the East China Sea in about two days. It weakened slightly before making landfall on Kyushu Island on September 17. Talim has since traversed all of Japan’s larger islands—Shikoku, Japan’s main island of Honshu, and Hokkaido—while maintaining its intensity. It exited the northern tip of Hokkaido by Monday evening local time and continued its journey northwestward onto Russia’s Sakhalin Island.
Heavy rainfall totaling more than 20 inches was observed on the southeastern side of Kyushu prior to landfall, with Miyazaki Prefecture reporting more than 6 inches on Saturday alone. Miyako Airport in Okinawa Prefecture reported record one-day and two-day rainfall rates of 18.86 inches and 20.30 inches, respectively; the previous two-day rainfall record was from 1977.
Reported Impacts
More than 200,000 people were evacuated from Kagoshima Prefecture on Kyushu where Talim made landfall. In parts of neighboring Oita and Miyazaki prefectures, around 60,000 people were ordered to evacuate, and some 1,200 people are reportedly stranded in Oita where roads have been cut off by mudslides and flooding. Another 2,000 people were ordered to evacuate from Iwate Prefecture on Honshu, where some roads have been inundated.
Power outages have halted bullet train operations; 18,000 homes in Miyako, where trees were uprooted and power lines were knocked down, have been in the dark since before Talim made landfall. In advance of the storm, 200,000 were evacuated from China’s Fujian and Zhejiang provinces due to high surf, where the tide was reportedly raised more than 30 feet. Flight cancellations in both Japan and China began prior to landfall, and at least 116 domestic flights were canceled Monday.
Two deaths and 38 injuries have been reported due to mudslides and flooding, and three people are missing. Authorities have issued warnings for heavy rain, high seas, flooding, and possible landslides due to Talim’s maintained strength as it crossed Japan.
Exposure at Risk
Japan has strict and well-enforced construction codes, although many existing structures predate the existence of these codes. Residential exposures are dominated by wood construction; non-wood residences primarily consist of steel and concrete. Modern wood construction typically demonstrates the best performance in typhoons among all wood constructions. However, damage to roof coverings and windows can allow wind-driven rain to enter and cause extensive damage to contents. Furthermore, dislodged external components can become wind-borne debris and cause damage to surrounding structures and glazing.
Larger multi-family apartment buildings and commercial and industrial structures are generally engineered and made of reinforced concrete or steel. Complete structural collapse of engineered buildings due to typhoons is extremely rare; damage is usually confined to nonstructural components, such as mechanical equipment, roofing, cladding, and windows.
A significant portion of industrial stock is of non-engineered light metal construction, which is one of the construction types most vulnerable to high winds. Low-rise, non-engineered commercial and industrial buildings usually perform similarly to single-family homes under typhoon conditions.
Even with modern flood-control structures, the risk of flood damage remains high in Japan. For a given flood depth/effective surge depth, a residential wood frame building generally will sustain more damage than a residential masonry building. Concrete construction is less vulnerable to flood than steel or masonry. Commercial and apartment buildings usually have stronger foundations than residential buildings, and are thus better able to resist flood loads. Water damage to machinery and contents drives most flood-related loss; also, because damage is usually limited to the lower stories of a building, high-rise buildings will experience a lower damage ratio than low-rise buildings because a smaller proportion of the building is affected.
Forecast Track and Intensity
Talim is currently over Russia’s Sakhalin Island and has maintained its intensity. It is forecast to continue northeastward across the southern part of the island before turning northwestward to follow the eastern coast of Sakhalin and weakening over the Sea of Okhotsk.
