| MadSci Network: Environment & Ecology |
Dear Jakube Typhoon, Cyclone, tropical storms are similar things...they are know by different names in different parts of the world. Every year Typhoons hit the coast of Taiwan and Japan during the summer from August - September... Of course, all are not as damaging as Kathrina was...but some typhoons bring with them heavy rains and high intensity winds....there has been lots of typhoon that has destroyed houses in Taiwan and Japan. Recent one was Typhoon Melor that hit mainland Japan in October 2009 moving north at about 30 miles per hour, according to Japan's Meteorological Agency with winds of 70 miles per hour. Similarly in Taiwan Typhoon Morakot in August 2009 caused a major havoc in southern Taiwan, displacing thousands, destroying most of the homes in south of Taiwan and also causing major economic losses. Probably the worst damage from the typhoon was in Taiwan's Hsia-lin village, which was buried entirely by the flooding landslides and debris flow. Only two houses were left standing by the time Ling's team witnessed the aftermath nearly a month later. More than 400 people were buried alive by the debris, his report found. Hence although the Cyclones hitting US coasts are very rare to cause damage, Typhoons hitting coasts of South East Asia cause damage almost every year... Cyclones and Tropical Storms also hit the west coast of India and these start from the Arabian Sea and cause major floods resulting in halt of daily life as the roads are flooded with water sometimes up to 1 meter!! I hope this answers your question Best shashank
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