Typhoon Betty (1987)
| Typhoon (JMA) | |
|---|---|
| Category 5 super typhoon (SSHS) | |
 |
|
| Super Typhoon Betty at peak intensity | |
| Formed | August 7, 1987 |
| Dissipated | August 17, 1987 |
| Highest winds | 10-minute sustained: 205 km/h (125 mph) 1-minute sustained: 260 km/h (160 mph) |
| Lowest pressure | 890 mbar (hPa); 26.28 inHg |
| Fatalities | 94 total |
| Areas affected | Philippines, Vietnam, Laos, Thailand |
| Part of the 1987 Pacific typhoon season | |
Super Typhoon Betty (international designation: 8709; JTWC designation: 9W; PAGASA name: Herming) was a powerful and destructive Category 5 tropical cyclone which struck the Philippines in 1987. The seventh typhoon and second super typhoon of the active 1987 Pacific typhoon season, it formed from the monsoon trough that spawned a tropical depression on August 7 while around 500 miles (800 kilometers) east of the Philippines. It drifted northwestward, becoming a tropical storm on August 9 and a typhoon on August 10. Betty turned westward, where it rapidly intensified to a 160 mph (260 km/h) super typhoon on August 11.
Betty weakened slightly to a 155 mph (250 km/h) super typhoon before hitting the central Philippines on the 12th. Betty weakened to a 105 mph (170 km/h) typhoon over the country, but restrengthened to a 135 mph (215 km/h) typhoon over the South China Sea. Land interaction weakened Betty to a minimal typhoon before it hit central Vietnam on August 16.[1] Betty caused 94 deaths, with damage from flooding adding up to 2 billion Philippine Pesos.[2] The same place itself was hit by Super Typhoon Nina a few months after Betty. Betty is one of the most destructive typhoons to hit the Philippines. [3]
Meteorological history
Betty developed as a tropical depression about 1,320 kilometers (820 miles) east-southeast of Manila during the morning of August 9. It quickly intensified to a tropical storm while moving slowly north-northwestwards. Betty further intensified to a typhoon the next day and underwent explosive deepening.
On August 11, Betty took on a westward course and reached its maximum intensity of 890 millibars (hPa; 26.31 inHg) and maximum sustained winds of 260 km/h (160 mph), to be the strongest storm of the season, and one of the most powerful storms ever recorded. Betty crossed the central Philippines the next day. Betty became the most destructive typhoon to affect the Philippines since Typhoon Ike of the 1984 season. The total damage was estimated at $32.8 million (1987 USD). [4]
On the morning of August 12, it became the first tropical cyclone in 1987 to enter the South China Sea from the western North Pacific after traversing the Philippines. Betty re-intensified slightly for 36 hours and then weakened gradually as it approached Vietnam. [4]
Typhoon Betty made landfall over northern Vietnam on August 16. At least one person was killed and four others were injured in the coastal provinces of Vietnam. Betty weakened to a severe tropical storm on evening of August 16. It then swept across Laos and eventually dissipated over northern Thailand near Chiang Mai during the evening of August 17. [4] No known damage was reported in southern Asia.
Impact
Philippines
Typhoon Betty battered the Philippines with heavy rains and winds of up to 136 mph (220 km/h), killing at least nine people and leaving thousands homeless before it moved into the South China Sea. Manila escaped serious damage or disruption, although schools and many businesses closed because electricity was interrupted in several areas. Betty became the strongest typhoon to hit the archipelago in three years, just after the deadly and catostraphic Typhoon Nitang of the 1984 season that killed over 1,000 people. It passed about 60 miles south of Manila and left land by mid-morning on August 13. [5]
Five People were killed when they drowned in when their boat was capsized in the rough waters of the Pacific. One person was missing and five others were injured. [6] Millions of dollars worth of property were destroyed, including highways, crops, buildings and homes. [7]
Death tolls climbed to 44 people on August 13 and new warnings were issued when another typhoon is about to strike the nation. President of the Philippines Corazon Aquino declared a state of calamity in more than a dozen provinces and states to the south of the capital, Quezon City. Reports of more than 60,000 people were left homeless, and the wake of destruction were still awaited in remote areas. Damages to crops totaled to millions of dollars (1987 USD). [8]
Betty killed at least 17 people as a result of collapsing houses and fallen trees, with six fishermen missing and more than 6,000 families made homeless. Damage estimates were totaled to $32.8 million (1987 USD), which is equivalent to 2 billion Philippine Pesos. An additional fifteen people were killed by uprooted coconut trees. [9] The sugar crops and coconut trees were especially hit hard. A few days after Betty hit, Philippine Airlines resumed normal flight schedules and schools were reopened. [10]
Elsewhere
In Vietnam, the impact was minimal, though the system caused deaths along the coast. The impact was also minimal for Laos, Thailand and much of southern Asia, although there is at least one person that was killed and four others that were injured in the coastal provinces of Vietnam for that region of southern Asia. [4] Damages were minimal for that region.
See also
 |
Wikimedia Commons has media related to: Typhoon Betty (1987) |
- Typhoon Nina (1987) — Hit the same area a few months after betty
- Tropical Storm Washi (2011)
- Typhoon Ike
- 1987 Pacific typhoon season
References
- ^ Joint Typhoon Warning Center. Super Typhoon Betty. Retrieved on 2012-01-06.
- ^ Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Most Destructive Tropical Cyclones for the Month of August (1948-2000). Retrieved on 2012-01-06.
- ^ "Destructive Philippine Typhoons (1947 - 2009)". Typhoon 2000. Retrieved 2012-1-7.
- ^ a b c d "Tropical Cyclones of the 1987 Pacific Typhoon Season". Hong Kong Royal Observatory. Retrieved 01-06-12.
- ^ "Typhoon batters the Philippines". The Los Angeles Times. Retrieved 01-07-12.
- ^ "Typhoon Grazes The Philippines". The Bulletin. Retrieved 01-06-12.
- ^ "Typhoon slams into the Philippines" The Pittsburgh Post-Gazette. August 15, 1987. Retrieved 12-01-06.
- ^ "Typhoon Betty batters the Philippines". The Milwaukee Journal. Retrieved 1-7-12.
- ^ Claro Cortes. (1987) "Betty strikes the Philippines" The Bryon Times. Retrieved 1-7-12.
- ^ "Betty hits the Philippines" New Strait Times. Retrieved on 01-07-12.
