Truemors
Update 1 0115z 21st August 08: Typhoon Nuri has defied forecasts and tracked west for the last 12 hours on a course which could take it much closer to Hong Kong than perviously thought. The latest Japanese Meteorological Agency (JMA - the official typhoon forecaster in the region) forecast released a few minutes ago anticipates a direct hit on Hong Kong tomorrow afternoon with winds of 80mph gusting to 115mph.
The Hong Kong Observatory have raised Standby Signal 1, s sign that a tropical cyclone is within 500 miles of the territory.
The eye of Nuri, the 13th storm of the northwestern Pacific cyclone season, was 390 kilometers southeast of Hong Kong at 2 p.m. local time, the Hong Kong Observatory said as it raised its No. 1 Standby Sign to warn of the storm. Nuri isn't expected to approach the city until tomorrow, a day after the final Olympic equestrian events are held there.
There are reports that 5 people were killed in the Philippines when typhoon Nuri swept across the far northern coast of Luzon.
Five people including a 72-year-old woman and three children were killed when landslides crushed their houses in the northern regions while a farmer was missing after being washed away by an overflowing river in Ilocos province, the civil defence office reported.
Large parts of Luzon island were drenched by heavy rain, including Manila and nearby suburbs, and schools called off classes in some affected provinces, disaster relief officials said.
"We are prepared. We are not just looking at rain and strong winds, we are also looking at storm surges and strong waves in coastal areas," said Anthony Golez, deputy administrator of the National Disaster Coordinating Council.
I will be closely monitoring this situation a may travel to Hong Kong later today to cover this event first hand.
For more information please visit the following websites:
www.typhoonfury.com - My website providing information on current and previous high impact typhoons in Asia.
http://www.jma.go.jp/en/typh/0812c.html - JMA official warning page
http://www.hko.gov.hk/informtc/informtc.htm - Hong Kong Observatory typhoon warning page
Most RecentMost Recommended Comments (1)
at 06:26 on August 21st, 2008
From the Japan Met Office: "with winds of 80mph gusting to 115mph".