155 Dead and Hundreds More Missing as Typhoon Fengshen Crosses the Philippines

by TyphoonHunter | June 25, 2008 at 08:40 am | 4880 views | 24 comments

Typhoon Fengshen has left a trail of destruction during its 48 hours passage of the Philippines. Reuters are reporting that the storm has killed at least 155 people and hundreds more are missing after a ferry capsized.

(Link to Reuter's article - http://uk.news.yahoo.com/rtrs/20080622/tpl-uk-philippines-weather-20b2d2f.html)

The storm made a direct hit on the capital Manila earlier today after crossing the centre of the country with winds gusting up to 150 miles per hour. Typhoon Fengshen also carried torrential rains and a significant storm surge responsible for flooding vast areas of Iloilo Province. (Please refer to Nowpublic contributor mortiferbarba's excellent first hand account of the storm here - http://www.nowpublic.com/environment/typhoon-frank-lashes-iloilo-philippines

Fengshen means god of wind in Chinese. The extended forecast track is highly uncertain and it appears that south China and Taiwan could be at risk over the next few days.

Typhoons, known as hurricanes in the Americas, are vast storms often hundred of miles wide rotating around a centre of very low pressure. They regularly strike the coastal nations of East Asia bringing torrential rains, high winds and damaging storm surges.

For more information please visit the following monitoring and forecast websites:

www.typhoon2000.ph - Philippines typhoon monitoring website run by Michael Padua

http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/ - Official regional typhoon forecasting agency

http://metocph.nmci.navy.mil/jtwc.php - US military's Joint Typhoon Warning Centre

www.typhoonfury.com - For photos and film of previous high impact typhoons in the Pacific

I will provide regular updates as this situation develops.

Add a comment Comments (24)

pinkberry143

Hmm, very alarming but hope that this won't strike the Philippines and at most concern not the Mindana area because this place is a paradise to me. Though am not from Mindanao, I've visited that place several times because of my business deals concerning agricultural products..


For the information of the readers, Mindanao is very reach in natural resources. Plenty of TUNA supply is coming from Mindanao; to be more specific, Davao, Gensan, South cotabat etc..Most of our tropical fruits being exported are also coming from Mindanao so I will be much worried if the storm "Fengshen" will hit that place..

TyphoonHunter

Thanks for that information on Mindanao - it sounds like an amazing place. It looks like the primary threat could be to Samar and areas around there are the outer bands of the storm sweep over.


The strongest winds are normally always found at the centre of tropical storms and typhoons however the outer bands can contain vicious squalls and thunderstorms which are capable of causing floods and damage. It is this which is the primary threat at the moment but this could change.

Rhonda J Mangus
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

TyphoonHunter

Rhonda, thanks for the tag.


Just updated the article. Fengshen is undergoing rapid intensification. JMA have upped winds from 45 knots to 60 knots in just 6 hours - this is just under typhoon strength.


The forecast track also brings the storm closer to the coast of the Philippines which is going to mean a larger area of the country could be affected by the torrential rains and strong winds of this storm.

jordan
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, great to hear from you again, and thanks for this report.

Rhonda J Mangus

You are very welcome, TyphoonHunter! Thanks for the update!

Barbara McPherson
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.  The news here is so up to date!

TyphoonHunter

Thanks Jordan and Barbara.

The forecasts hav now changed and it looks like typhoon Fengshen is going to directly affect a large portion of the Philippines. I've updated the article to include these new details.

jayr_patron
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.  This is extremely helpful... and I never got any stories from local media about this...just yet. 

At this time, rain clouds hover over Metro Manila with scattered patches of blue skies at the north.  Looking south, the signs do not blend well for those who do not want to get wet this afternoon or evening.

TyphoonHunter

Thanks Jayr. I'm glad you've found this useful.


Fengshen made landfall on Samar a few hours ago and is forecast to make a turn to the north and travel up through the centre of the Philippines. Given the huge number of people who are going to be affected by this storm I reckon the casualty figure could be quite high. More updates to come...

TyphoonHunter

Holy cow!

Fengshen is ramping up big time as it crosses the islands of the central Philippines. It's now a solid cat 3 equivalent storm and about to make a direct hit on the island of Boracay. This is a nasty situation and is likely to cause widespread damage.

jordan

Thanks for the updates, 'Hunter. I am bringing this story current again, as it's once again front-page news.

Felton Barch
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

Nicely done with the story, pictures, and links!!


TyphoonHunter

Cheers Jordan and thanks for the tag Felton.

I've just updated the story. Forecasts now look like Fengshen is going to pass very close to Manila. The storm has weakened slightly but is still packing a punch. I highly recommend the website www.typhoon2000.ph it has bags of information on expected times the centre of the storm is due to hit major cities and what effects are likely.

danesller0127

OMG!!!...not again...

pinkberry143

The typhoon is not really strong here in Manila but has started to attcked Mindoro Island, Calapan, Samr and neighboring towns and island..ill be uploading photos later.. 

jordan

Thank you- we look forward to seeing your footage. Stay dry!

Barry Artiste
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

azzayindia
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff.

jordan

A report on rescue efforts to reach people trapped beneath a capsized ferry that got caught in the typhoon:

"There is a bubble in the ship's bowels that are now on top of the surface of the water, and we are now trying to get assistance from our own government to get divers down into the vessel as soon as the seas calm," he said.

Typhoon Fengshen has killed between 120 and 150 people in the Philippines, he said, noting that he has not heard from Red Cross chapters in the country's remote areas.

jordan

Fengshen has reached China: 

Another natural disaster has struck China. Tropical strom Fengshen lashed southern China today. Fengshen has killed hundreds of people in Philippines earlier.

danesller0127

Manila, Philippines-(UPDATE) The number of persons confirmed killed during typhoon 'Frank' (Int'l. name "Fengshen), mostly by floods, reached 291. With the 70 ferry fatalities, this brought the total to 361. Another 166 persons were injured, Official said.

(source: INQUIRER.net/Thu, Jun 26, 2008/ 01:12AM Philippines)   

danesller0127

Breaking News!

87 more bodies found at sea by Coast Guard.

(source: INQUIRER.net/Thu, Jun 26, 2008/01: 34AM Philippines) 

JeffHuang
good stuff:

TyphoonHunter, I like this story. It's good stuff. 155 people dead and more are missing.. This happens every year in Taiwan during summer and the aftermath is always treacherous. Hopefully everyone is and will be ok.

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June 25, 2008 at 08:40 am by TyphoonHunter, 4880 views, 24 comments

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