 Download
Cat Report
(54kb pdf)
Cover Page
Heatwave - UK & Europe
Typhoon - Japan
Hurricane - USA
Wildfires - USA
Floods - France
Earthquake - Iran
Other events
|
Catastrophe Report 4
July 8, 2003 - February 20, 2004
|
Typhoon - Japan, South Korea
| Territory: |
|
Japan, South Korea |
| Region: |
|
Western Japan (Kyushu, Okinawa Islands);
Southern and south east South Korea |
| Date: |
|
11 – 13 September, 2003 |
| Event: |
|
Typhoon |
| Impact: |
|
Wind speeds of up to 216 km/h caused severe damage
and flooding and took 118 lives. 25,000 people required evacuation,
5,000 buildings were destroyed and a further 13,000 damaged.
Infrastructure was also badly affected, with 774 roads and 26
bridges damaged and downed power lines disrupting electricity
supplies to 1.5 million homes. Port facilities were badly damaged
and 18 ships sunk. Flooding due to torrential rains and accompanying
storm surge inundated 43,000 acres of agricultural land. In
Japan’s Okinawa Islands, the storm killed one person,
damaged 22 buildings and left 20,000 homes without power. At
4.8 billion US$, Maemi is ranked fifth in 2003 in terms of economic
losses. Insured losses, at 0.5 billion US$, are, however, substantially
less. |
| Summary: |
|
Typhoon Maemi formed as a tropical depression
in the Philippine Sea on September 5th, and reached tropical
cyclone status two days later. Peak intensity was reached on
the 10th when the storm achieved Category 5 (super-typhoon)
status with maximum sustained wind speeds of 280 km/h. After
passing south of Japan, Maemi made landfall in south eastern
Korea, as a Category 3 storm, on the 12th, battering the region
with sustained winds close to 200 km /k, making the typhoon
the strongest to hit the country since records began in 1904.
Up to 35cm of rainfall was recorded as the storm passed, with
wave heights reaching 10m. |
| Data sources: |
|
ReliefWeb
http://www.reliefweb.int/w/rwb.nsf/vLND
NOAA NGDC Hazards/Climate Extremes
http://www.ncdc.noaa.gov/oa/climate/research/2003/sep/hazards.html |
| Additional sources: |
|
NASA Earth Observatory
http://earthobservatory.nasa.gov/NaturalHazards/natural_hazards_v2.php3?img_id=11699
|
| |
|
|
|
|
