Officials issue highest alert as massive typhoon barrels toward coastline: 'Do not go outside'
Typhoon Wipha's approach has led Hong Kong to hoist its highest T10 warning. With winds topping 103 mph and severe flooding, the region braced for impact, paralleling escalating Pacific typhoons scientists now link to a warming climate.
Hong Kong's observatory, the region's weather service, reserves a "T10 signal" for its highest level of warning when a typhoon strikes. It means hurricane-force winds of 73 mph or stronger are either already occurring or expected in the area.
The Observatory issued the alert on Sunday for China's south coast as Typhoon Wipha's hurricane-force winds approached. "Do not go outside and stay away from exposed windows and doors. Make sure you have a safe place to shelter," the T10 signal warned, per the Hong Kong Free Press.
Hong Kong was hammered by Wipha's torrential rain over the weekend as the storm struck the coast of China's Guangdong province. Over 4 inches of rain fell in three hours as the storm whipped up winds of over 103 mph.
The Philippines also felt the fury of Wipha over the weekend. The storm killed at least three people, and another seven were reported missing on Monday. Authorities report that floods, landslides, and debris flows have impacted more than 800,000 people, forcing around 90,000 to evacuate their homes, according to the Associated Press.
A NASA study determined that 90% of the excess heat captured by heat-trapping gases in our atmosphere is ending up in our ocean. It is still too soon to determine if our overheating planet supercharged Wipha, but scientists did conclude that a major Typhoon that hit the Philippines and Taiwan last year was made worse by our warming world.
Wipha made landfall on the one-year anniversary of the formation of Tropical Storm Gaemi. Gaemi strengthened into a powerful typhoon before it pounded the northern end of the Philippines last July with strong winds and heavy rainfall. Typhoon Gaemi's wrath impacted nearly 7 million people, killing 48, damaging several roads and bridges, and knocking out power to more than 100 cities.
Gaemi eventually became a Category 4-equivalent Typhoon, with maximum sustained winds of 115 mph, before making landfall in northeast Taiwan on July 24, 2024, where it took 10 lives and injured over 900. It was the strongest storm to hit the island in eight years
An analysis by World Weather Attribution of Typhoon Gaemi concluded that "climate change increased Typhoon Gaemi's wind speeds and rainfall, with devastating impacts across the western Pacific region."
"Together, these findings indicate that climate change is enhancing conditions conducive to Typhoons, and when they occur the resulting rainfall totals and wind speeds are more intense," say the authors of the study. "This is in line with other scientific findings that tropical cyclones are becoming more intense and wetter under climate change."
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