Philippines Typhoon

Just last week, the Philippines was struck by a massive Typhoon.  The storm's winds were at 195 mile per hour with wind gusts up to 235 mph.  The storm destroyed 70-80% of structures in it's path.  Some cities are left almost completely under water.
An estimated 10,000 people were killed by the last week's Typhoon in the Philippines, that number could increase once rescuers reach the remote villages. Hundreds of thousands of people have been displaced.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/world-asia-24894529

Mitigation: Many people were left waiting for rescue without food, water or medicine.  Even people who did make it to shelter have been there without food. The rescue efforts were hindered because of the damage of transportation methods.  Roads, bridges and airports have either been destroyed or covered in wreckage.

 90 U.S. Marines are on their way to provide assistance.  UNICEF is rushing emergency supplies to the Philippines.  Many other Countries are sending in more help and relief efforts are taking donations.


http://www.reuters.com/article/2013/11/10/us-philippines-typhoon-idUSBRE9A603Q20131110

Adaption: Warnings for the storm were not given in time for the Philippines but they were able to predict that the storm would be headed to Vietnam/Southern China.  The warnings made it possible for many people to evacuate before the storm hits.


http://www.cbsnews.com/8301-202_162-57611886/philippines-typhoon-victims-beg-for-help-as-aid-slowly-trickles-in/

The map below shows the path of the typhoon.  The red areas represent destroyed areas while the yellow is the heavily damaged areas.  Areas in white have unknown data at this time.

 

http://www.nytimes.com/interactive/2013/11/11/world/asia/typhoon-haiyan-map.html?_r=0

 

Granite peak snow

Kind of a funny weather hazard that happened in Wausau the other day.  The Granite Peak Ski Hill started making snow and because of just the right atmospheric conditions, the snow made it over to my parents neighborhood.  This doesn't seem like such a light snow could be hazardous but because it wasn't cold enough for the snow to stay snow, it made for very slippery conditions.

Several car accidents happened because of the icey conditions resulting in detoured roads.  According to some drivers, the detours became jammed because of two additional car accidents.

 The map below shows where Rib Mountain's Granite Peak Skill is compared to the area affected by the snow.

The general manager of the ski hill says that she recieves many complaints each year about the man-made snow causing slippery road conditions.  Seriously complainers, The hill is Wausau's biggest tourist attraction and creates additional hobbies for the locals.  We live in Wisconsin, Iced roads is something you need to learn to deal with!