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Super Typhoon Bopha Slams Southern Philippines
With gusts near 200 mph, the powerful storm could prove disastrous
By
AccuWeather
Typhoon Bopha moves toward the Philippines on December 3. (NASA)
A potential disaster is unfolding as Super Typhoon Bopha is making landfall on the southern Philippines island of Mindanao, packing 160-mph winds.
As of Monday, nearly 8,000 people in the likely path of Bopha had been evacuated from the coast and other low-lying areas, the Australian ABC News website said.
Bopha is likely to be the strongest tropical cyclone of 2012 and has the potential to be the southern Philippines' equivalent to Florida's Andrew in 1992.
Flooding rain along and near the storm's path could spawn mudslides on the nation's rugged southern main island.
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Official estimates of top wind speed reached 160 mph, with gusts near 200 mph with the center just offshore. The storm was making landfall late Monday (Eastern Time) and moving toward the west-northwest at between 15 and 18 mph.
Winds of this magnitude and a storm moving rapidly inland perpendicular to the coast can bring total destruction and great loss of life, due to storm surge, inland flooding, flying debris and collapsing structures.
Evacuation efforts were focused on the area of Hinatuan, a coastal town of eastern Hinatuan. Schools were shut and travel at sea was temporarily banned, the ABC said.
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Beyond Mindanao, Bopha, significantly weakened, will continue to threaten damaging winds and flooding rains over the southern Philippines as it tracks towards the South China Sea later Tuesday through Wednesday.
Sunday, the potentially devastating wrath of Bopha narrowly skirted the island nation of Palau. The national capital, Koror, had top wind gusts of 70 mph as Bopha sidestepped Palau to the south.
Packing 155 mph at its zenith of power, Bopha held the rank of a "super typhoon," making it a truly rare storm for December. The storm strengthened rapidly late Monday local time, prior to reaching the southern Philippines.
A super typhoon is defined as a typhoon having highest sustained winds of at least 130 knots, or 150 mph.
The last December super typhoon was Nanmadol, which briefly held the rank of super typhoon on Dec. 1, 2004. Nanmadol later struck northern Philippines.
The name Bopha, pronounced "boe-fa," originates from Cambodia and means blossom or flower.
See AccuWeather.com for more weather forecasts.
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8 Comments
the wrath of nature is upon us. Pray for better days.
December 04 2012 at 10:33 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply200mph... My prayers are with you.
December 04 2012 at 1:02 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyBut this has nothing to do with human induced climate change, right?
December 03 2012 at 9:49 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyRight.
December 04 2012 at 9:09 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Replyhere in Cebu City at 8.19 on Tuesday windy wet and blustery but no real problems reported yet.
December 03 2012 at 7:20 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyThank you , my wifes family is there.
December 03 2012 at 10:42 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyGood luck!
December 04 2012 at 12:55 AM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down ReplyJeez, at about 120 mph the wind sounds like a freight train right next to you. 200, dayum.
December 03 2012 at 7:03 PM Report abuse Permalink rate up rate down Reply