Typhoon Parma hits Philippines

Typhoon Parma was threatening to strike the Philippines capital of Manila, devastated from Typhoon Ketsana just one week earlier, but has taken a more northerly path, largely sparing the city.

“It’s a big help, we weren’t ready for another catastrophe,” said Marides Fernando, mayor of the Marikina municipality. “Prayers worked; everyone was praying. We can go back to our homes.”

Forecasters say the storm changed course before striking the Cagayan province in the northern part of the country. Most of the region is expected to avoid major disaster.

However, Parma, still packing sustained 10-minute winds of 110 miles per hour, has knocked down trees and powerlines, and is forecast to drop heavy precipitation. The most significant impacts may come in the form of mudslides.

Typhoon Parma to hit Philippines saturday

The Philippines, still reeling from the destructive Typhoon Ketsana just days before, is bracing for another strike from Typhoon Parma, which is expected to hit the region on Saturday.

Typhoon Parma

Ketsana brought torrential rains to the northern Philippines on Saturday, inundating most of the capital Manila and surrounding provinces. Scores of people were killed and many are still missing. Overall, Ketsana affected nearly two million people.

Now Parma, a “super typhoon” packing winds of 150 miles per hour, is threatening to devastate the region again.

The storm could be more powerful than Ketsana: “We are dealing with a very strong typhoon (and) there is a big possibility that this typhoon will gather more strength,” said Nathaniel Cruz, a forecaster in the Philippines.

Philippines appeals for flood aid

The Philippines has appealed for international assistance following the worst flooding in more than 40 years. At least 140 people have been killed and another 32 are missing as a result of the heavy rains, and the death toll from the disaster continues to rise.

The Philippine government has been attempting to provide shelter, food and basic supplies for hundreds of thousands of people displaced by the floods.

Tropical storm Ketsana brought torrential rains to the northern Philippines on Saturday, inundating most of the capital Manila and surrounding provinces. Surging water washed away buildings and cars. Scores of people were killed and many are still missing.

Deadly floods caused by storm Ketsana

Tropical Storm Ketsana causes record amounts of rainfall in Manila, Philippines, leading to the declaration of a “state of calamity” in 25 provinces.

Ketsana made landfall in the Philippines early on September 26, 2009. The tropical storm brought Metro Manila its worst rainfall in record history on the morning of September 26, causing heavy flooding.

According to Philippine weather bureau PAGASA, the metropolis received 42.4 cm of rain in just 12 hours, exceeding the 39.2 cm average for the entire month of September. The previous record was set on June 7, 1967, with 33.4 cm of rainfall over a 24 hour period.

A “state of calamity” was declared in Metro Manila and 25 provinces affected by the storm. At least 40 people have been confirmed killed by flooding and landslides.

Philippine ferry sinks dozens still missing

Philippine Navy rescuers managed to save 931 passengers and crew members on board a huge ferry that tilted and sank early Sunday morning in the waters off the archipelago’s southern coast, officials said.

Navy rescue operations on Superferry 9

Glenn Rabonza, executive officer of the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), said Sunday evening that search is still on for the 28 missing from the capsized Super ferry 9 that carried 964 people on board.

Rabonza said navy ships, coast guard teams, commercial and fishery vessels are operating in the accident site, about 9.5 nautical miles west of Siocon town of Zamboanga del Norte province, to account for the missing.

On this day August 21, 1983

Philippine opposition leader Benigno Aquino, Jr. is assassinated upon returning home from exile in the United States at the Manila International Airport (now renamed Ninoy Aquino International Airport).

Aftermath of the assassination

Aquino born November 27, 1932 was a Philippine Senator, Governor of Tarlac, and an opposition leader against President Ferdinand Marcos.

His death catapulted his widow, Corazon Aquino, to the limelight and subsequently to the presidency, replacing the 20-year Marcos regime.

Despite a convoy of security guards (all assigned to him by the Marcos government), a contingent of 1,200 military and police personnel on the tarmac, three armed bodyguards personally escorting him, and a bulletproof vest Aquino was wearing, Aquino was fatally shot in the head as he was escorted off the airplane.

Typhoon Morakot leaves more than 10,000 missing

Torrential rains from the storm killed at least 41 people in Taiwan, with over 600 more missing, many of whom are feared dead after a massive mudslide buried an entire town.

An additional 23 people were killed in the Philippines and six more in China. Damages from the storm amounted to at least $1.3 billion in China and more than $2.1 billion in Taiwan.

In the Taiwan village of Xiaolin, of its 1,300 residents, about 600 are believed to have died in a mudslide. At least 10,000 others were missing in mountainous areas cutoff from the rest of the country, hundreds of whom are feared dead.

Typhoon Morakot set record-breaking heavy rain

Typhoon Morakot kills at least 36 people in the Philippines and Taiwan after producing a record-breaking 2,489 millimetres (98 in) of rainfall.

Typhoon Morakot Aug 7

In Taiwan, where schools were closed ahead of the typhoon, Morakot caused landslides, severe floods, blew down trees and billboards, and stripped roofs from buildings.

In a positive impact, Morakot brought much-needed rain to Taiwan, ending a months-long drought, and replenished reservoirs enough to warrant an end to water rationing.

On that island, two people were killed with four missing. Almost the entire southern Taiwan (Chiayi, Tainan, Kaohsuing, and Pingtung) are flooded by record-breaking heavy rain.

It is estimated that rainfall in Pingtung County may reach as much as 2,500 millimeters, breaking all rainfall records of any single place in Taiwan induced by a single typhoon.

Airlines in Taiwan have held flights in and out of the airport, and seaports are closed. Electricity has been lost to approximately 25,000 homes. Japan experienced rain and strong winds from the typhoon.