Typhoon Damrey (2017)

Typhoon Damrey (Ramil)

Typhoon (JMA scale)
Category 2 typhoon (SSHWS)
Typhoon Damrey approaching Vietnam on November 3
Formed	October 31, 2017
Dissipated	November 4, 2017
Highest winds	10-minute sustained: 130 km/h (80 mph) 1-minute sustained: 165 km/h (105 mph)
Lowest pressure	970 hPa (mbar); 28.64 inHg
Fatalities	151 total
Damage	$1.03 billion (2017 USD)
Areas affected	Philippines, Vietnam, Cambodia, Thailand
Part of the 2017 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Damrey, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Ramil, was a strong tropical cyclone that affected the Philippines Vietnam during early November 2017. Damrey first originated as a tropical depression over the Philippine archipelago of Visayas on October 31. Emerging to the South China Sea few days later, the system strengthened into the second deadliest and twenty-third named storm of the 2017 Pacific typhoon season. Rapidly intensifying, Damrey strengthened into the tenth typhoon on November 3, reaching its peak strength as a Category 2 in the same day. Damrey made landfall over Khánh Hoà, Vietnam during the next day as it rapidly weakened, and fully dissipated on November 5.

Strong winds, heavy rainfall and result severe flooding in Central Vietnam by the typhoon killed 142 people and total damage reached over US$1 billion. Damrey made landfall in central Vietnam as the region hosted the 2017 APEC Summit in Da Nang.

Meteorological history

Map plotting the storm's track and intensity, according to the Saffir–Simpson scale

Map key

Saffir–Simpson scale

  Tropical depression (≤38 mph, ≤62 km/h)
  Tropical storm (39–73 mph, 63–118 km/h)
  Category 1 (74–95 mph, 119–153 km/h)
  Category 2 (96–110 mph, 154–177 km/h)
  Category 3 (111–129 mph, 178–208 km/h)
  Category 4 (130–156 mph, 209–251 km/h)
  Category 5 (≥157 mph, ≥252 km/h)
  Unknown

Storm type

Tropical cyclone

Subtropical cyclone

Extratropical cyclone, remnant low, tropical disturbance, or monsoon depression

On October 31, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) began monitoring on a weak tropical depression that had developed approximately 349 km (217 mi) to the west of Cebu. Six hours later, the JMA began issuing advisories on the system after winds near its center has reached about 55 km/h (35 mph). By about 21:00 UTC of the same day, the PAGASA had classified the system as a tropical depression, assigning the local name Ramil. Around the same time, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) had issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert on the system.

By November 1, the JTWC had classified Ramil to a tropical depression, giving the international designation of 28W, after convection around its low-level circulation center (LLCC) began to consolidate. Thereafter, on November 2, the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm, receiving the name Damrey, the twenty-third named storm of the season. After the system was located over in a favorable environment including continuous convective organization, the JTWC followed suit on upgrading it to a tropical storm. Satellite imagery later depicted deep convective banding wrapping into its LLCC which caused Damrey to further strengthen. By 18:00 UTC of the same day, Damrey strengthened into a severe tropical storm by the JMA. Shortly thereafter, the structure of the storm had become symmetric with much deeper convection and an improved radial outflow. Vertical wind shear was also very low at around 5 knots, which is favorable for a cyclone to develop even further.

The JMA upgraded Damrey to a typhoon early on November 3. Three hours later, the JTWC followed suit and classified it as a Category 1-equivalent typhoon, after animated satellite imagery depicted a "strengthening" system and a well-defined circular eye feature. At this stage, Damrey was located in conditions of low shear and warm sea-surface temperatures of 27–28 °C (81–82 °F) with good outflow. The JMA had already declared that Damrey reached its peak intensity with 10-minute sustained winds of 130 km/h (80 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 970 hPa. Six hours later, microwave images showed the eye becoming well-defined and an improved storm structure with a large centralized convective mass occluding to its center. By 21:00 UTC, the JTWC upgraded Damrey to a Category 2-equivalent typhoon, reaching its peak strength with 1-minute sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph). The JTWC issued their final advisory on the typhoon on 03:00 UTC on November 4, as it made landfall in Vạn Ninh District, Khánh Hòa Province, Vietnam as its convective structure started to deteriorate. Three hours later, the JMA downgraded Damrey to a severe tropical storm, then to a tropical storm. The JMA issued their final advisory on 12:00 UTC on November 4. The agency continued to track the system as it fully dissipated on 00:00 UTC on November 5.

Preparations and impact

Deaths and damage from Typhoon Damrey

Countries	Casualties		Damage (2017 USD)	Ref
	Dead	Injured
Philippines	8		$20,000
Vietnam	142	197	$1.03 billion
Cambodia	1
Totals:	151	197	$1.03 billion

Philippines

On October 31, the PAGASA had raised a Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal #1, the lowest of five, to a few provinces, mostly over in Western Visayas (Region VI) and the island of Palawan. PAGASA had also warned residents of risky sea travel over the areas raised by the signal warning, including northern and eastern seaboards of Luzon. Some domestic flights were canceled and trips to and from the Batangas Port were canceled during November 1. Estimated rainfall around the 200 km radius of the system was classified from moderate to occasionally heavy.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) stated that 305 people had evacuated in the provinces of Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur and in Mindoro, while some 1,938 people were stranded in ports over in Palawan and Batangas. Eight domestic flights were canceled during November 2 while the PAGASA suspended work and classes that day. 14 landslides were recorded in a town in the province of Camarines Sur, killing one person. Three students had also died in Busuanga, Palawan after drowning in a river. One road and four bridges were also affected and not passable in the Cagayan Valley. On November 4, the total number of fatalities rose to 8. Torrential rains caused by the storm resulted in 2.5 ft of deep flooding, damaging agricultural crops. Agricultural damages were totaled to Php1.03 million (US$20,000) over in the city of Aurora Quezon on November 4.

Vietnam

Damage by Province in Vietnam

Province	Damage (VND)	Damage (2017 USD)	Ref
Khánh Hoà	14.7 trillion	$647 million
Phú Yên	3.5 trillion	$154 million
Quảng Nam	1.6 trillion	$70.4 million
Bình Định	866 billion	$38.1 million
Đắk Lắk	356 billion	$15.7 million
Lâm Đồng	92 billion	$4.05 million
Quảng Ngãi	1 trillion	$44 million
Quảng Trị	255.3 billion	$11.2 million
Thừa Thiên-Huế	830 billion	$36.5 million
Kon Tum	114.735 billion	$5.05 million
Gia Lai	50.7 billion	$2.23 million
Da Nang	44 billion	$1.94 million
Đắk Nông	15 billion	$660,000
Totals:	23.42 trillion	$1.03 billion

By November 8, at least 106 people had been killed in Vietnam as a result of the typhoon, with 197 others injured and 25 missing. Widespread flooding was reported, with more than 116,000 homes having been destroyed or damaged. UNICEF estimated at least four million people had been directly impacted by the storm and were in need of support. The beach resort of Nha Trang was among the worst hit areas, 30,000 inhabitants and tourists had to be evacuated from the area.

Typhoon Damrey was referred in the U.S. President Donald Trump's statement in APEC 2017. The Russian President Vladimir Putin reliefed US$5 million because typhoon's severe damage in Vietnam.

See also

• Other tropical cyclones named Damrey
• Typhoon Lola (1993)
• Typhoon Lingling (2001)
• Typhoon Mirinae (2009)
• Tropical Storm Podul (2013)
• Typhoon Molave (2020)

External links

• JMA General Information of Typhoon Damrey (1723) from Digital Typhoon
• 28W.DAMREY from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory
• Severe Weather Bulletin at PAGASA