Typhoons

[Onemore52]

Expecting a typhoon here in Bicol this week, as I am not experienced in these conditions i have a question about them .

Do they only come in in one direction unlike cyclones that can cause damage in other directions?

[Clermont]

From one Aussie to another, if you find yourself in that situation, take the Aussie disaster position by squatting down and placing head between the knees. When the wind hits and all seems lost, kiss your bum goodbye.

In all fairness heed the warning, if they say move out, move out and talk to the local Authorities not your next door neighbour about procedures. In the past their rescue procedures have not been up to scratch but of late, their getting their act together, good luck and stay. 

[craftbeerlover]

4 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

Expecting a typhoon here in Bicol this week, as I am not experienced in these conditions i have a question about them .

Do they only come in in one direction unlike cyclones that can cause damage in other directions?

Normally most of the damage with a typhoon is with the storm surge and flooding, however, because many of the houses in the Philippines are not very sturdy, it does not take much to topple homes and destroy neighborhoods.  Electricity and communications is also a major concern.  The direction of the wind is irrelevant unless one side is protected by natural structures, e.g. a mountain range, but normally the strongest part of the typhoon is the NW portion of the eye, but anywhere near the eyewall will be dangerous regardless of direction.   If you have a generator make sure it is working...  I just looked and I did not see any typhoons heading your way, currently there are no typhoons in the northern hemisphere at all.

[manofthecoldland]

Where from and how you get hit depends on the location of the eye.

In December of 2019, for the second time in 7-8 years, it passed directly over my house on the N. coast of Panay.  First time, we were in MNL and when we got back, our lanai or terrace roof was gone, but the house intact, despite being a small, hardwood framed, bamboo strip clad house. with a concrete bathroom and kitchen.

Second time, in December of 2019. We were there sheltering in the concrete, downstairs CR section with a new upstairs, concrete CR over our heads for the duration.

Winds initially blew down the bamboo gate and fence section on the East side. Then the N. fence. We have a 10 foot wall on the west and south sides of the lot, so no damage there. It appeared over, but the eye was passing over, so a 20 min  calm. Then we got hit from the South, with horizontal rain coming in to dirty and wet down everything not in plastic bags. This all took place over 2-3 hours. 

When it was all over, the roof and house were all intact with minor damage, but anything flimsy got knocked down, or as my Filipina says, "flew away. The little shade house on our bamboo access bridge, sitting on well planted bamboo poles was leaning over 45* toward the east, as were some of the bridge supports. So it depends on where you are in reference to  the eye in re to the damage you suffer from the typhoon.

 

 

[Onemore52]

I was in Darwin for Tracy and then on a drilling rig off Kaartha W.A. for another one.

On the drilling rig we had 8 anchors out, the anchors weighed 15 tons and attached to anchors was 3500 feet of 90 lb per link chain, when we returned to the rig we had to cut the chain to unravel it because they were all knotted up, this was after the rig was blown a quarter of a mile, another rig nearby that only had wire was blown up onto the beach after being blown a couple of nautical miles.

I reckon that Tracy was an experience because we were all so intoxicated that we didn’t know what was happening until the eye came, then we sobered up ver quickly once we saw the damage.

 

[OnMyWay]

15 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

Expecting a typhoon here in Bicol this week,

I can't find any typhoon predictions.  Low pressure system will give you some rain and some mild wind.

[Onemore52]

I was only going on word of mouth from the relatives. Like getting information from a taxi driver but there is no taxis here.

On my way will have to substitute, thanks.

[Mike J]

16 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

Expecting a typhoon here in Bicol this week, as I am not experienced in these conditions i have a question about them .

Do they only come in in one direction unlike cyclones that can cause damage in other directions?

Not entirely sure what you mean when you say "come in one direction".  If you mean the path of the typhoon, they will all go in a west or northwest direction.  If you mean the wind itself, it depends on where the eye of the typhoon is in relation to you.  If the eye does not pass over you, the wind will be in one direction.  If the eye passes over you, the wind will be one direction, then calm, then the wind will be 180 degree the other direction.  Been there, done that, don't ever want to do it again.  Odette in December 2021, the eye passed directly over us here in Moalboal.  Had to throw away my underwear, impossible to iron out the pucker. 

[Tommy T.]

4 hours ago, Mike J said:

If you mean the wind itself, it depends on where the eye of the typhoon is in relation to you.  If the eye does not pass over you, the wind will be in one direction.  If the eye passes over you, the wind will be one direction, then calm, then the wind will be 180 degree the other direction.  Been there, done that, don't ever want to do it again.  Odette in December 2021, the eye passed directly over us here in Moalboal. 

I have endured one direct hit from a Cat 3 cyclone (southern hemisphere) and two more close hits. Also two very near misses by typhoons in the northern hemisphere. I never want to experience anything nearly like that again! The sound and action is astounding. In the direct hit, it took us several hours to untangle our four anchors. At one point I had to literally crawl onto the deck to secure the inflatable dinghy.....never again! 125+ knots from one direction, 45 minutes dead calm as the eye passed over, the 125 knots from the opposite direction.

This was our yacht on the edge of a rogue Cat 2 cyclone in Tonga - one of the close hits.. This was taken with us anchored 200 meters from shore in 80 knots of wind. It broke the wind indicator. Fortunately the storm passed by so we only had one wind direction and, also fortunately, from over the island. Behind us it was open sea with just reef for protection.

The main problem if the eye passes over you directly is that it will break things or tangle things (like anchors) that were previously pressured from the opposite direction - as @ Mike J states above.

 

Edited November 16, 2023 by Tommy T.

[Freebie]

5 hours ago, Onemore52 said:

I was only going on word of mouth from the relatives.

You will just have to learn that when a little wind/ LPA / Tropical Depression  is expected it is immediately is translated into bagyo/ typhoon.

When its 99% of the case nothing like that.

Use windy.com and Pagasa website to see where an LPA is and then educate the relatives that theres no typhoon.....

They will then say "But Ate Gloria down the road told me there is. "  Facts count