Philippines Face ANOTHER Typhoon Disaster

Very strong Typhoon Hagupit is threatening
the Philippines.  

A little over a year ago, Typhoon Haiyan slammed into the Philippines, killing more than 7,000 people and leaving 4 million others homeless or with damaged houses.

Now, another typhoon, almost as strong, named Hagupit, is about to cause another disaster in the Philippines.

Hagupit developed explosively yesterday, and could hit the Philippines as a Category 4 or 5 storm with sustained winds of at least 140 or 150 mph.

East of the Philippines this morning, sustained winds with Hagupit are estimated at a little under 180 mph. It's a Category 5 monster at the moment.

Typhoons (we know these kinds of storms as hurricanes in the United States) thrive on warm water. The warmer the water, and the deeper the water is in the ocean, the more likely a typhoon or hurricane will get stronger, and stay strong.

Last year's Haiyan moved over extremely warm water that extended to an usual depth down into the Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines. That allowed Haiyan to strengthen into one of the strongest tropical systems ever recorded.

This time, as Dr. Jeff Masters notes, the water is not quite as warm, and doesn't extend as deep as it did last year east of the Philippines. So probably Hagupit won't be quite as strong, and might not maintain its strength like typhoon that caused such a disaster last year.

Still, Hagupit is extremely powerful, and turned out to be stronger than most forecasters thought.
It is forecast to be a Category 4 storm at landfall in the Philippines on Saturday with winds, as I said, that could clock in at 150 mph.

Extremely heavy rain, mudslides, storm surges and floods are also a good bet.

The city of Tacloban was the hardest hit population center when Haiyan slammed into the country last year. The city is pretty close to where Hagupit will probably make landfall.  Hagupit might not end up scoring a direct hit on Tacloban, but people there are taking no chances.

People are being evacuated, residents have already raided the supermarkets to stock up on food and supplies, and they're hunkering down.

The Philippines get hit by typhoons all the time, but in recent years, they've tended to be stronger, and more have hit the southern part of the country. Usually, it's the north that gets most of them.

I hate to keep bringing this up, but I have to wonder if global warming is making things worse for the Philippines. As I noted, hurricanes and typhoons thrive on warm ocean water, the hotter the better, at least from the typhoon's perspective.

With ocean temperatures near the Philippines much warmer than they were years ago, is this making the nation even more prone to typhoons? Yes, there's normal Pacific Ocean cycles that bring water temperatures up or down in any given area.

But the water temperature trend in the water near the Philippines, and most of the ocean areas of the world for that matter, are on the upswing, so you have to consider climate change.

I don't have all the answers, but scientists, I know, are looking into this.

If you want to follow this storm, and probably end up with good information, dramatic photos and videos, follow Jim Edds on Twitter (@ExtremeStorms) He's a storm chaser, reporter and filmmaker, and he is in the Philippines now, awaiting the storm.

He was in the Philippines last year when Haiyan hit. Here's one of the videos he came back with.  Edds got himself stranded outside when the typhoon winds abruptly strengthened where he was. He took refuge in a swimming pool, then against a building as all hell broke loose.

I hope this new typhoon is not as bad what I see in Edds' video. Watch: