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Typhoon Ruby (1988)

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Formed
  
October 20, 1988

Fatalities
  
300+ total

Dissipated
  
October 28, 1988

Typhoon Ruby (1988)

Highest winds
  
10-minute sustained: 140 km/h (85 mph)1-minute sustained: 230 km/h (145 mph)

Lowest pressure
  
950 hPa (mbar); 28.05 inHg

Damage
  
$1.3 billion (1988 USD)

Typhoon Ruby, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Unsang, was a Category 4 typhoon that caused over 300 deaths and billions of dollars in damages. It was the deadliest and costliest storm of the season. The tenth typhoon of the 1988 Pacific typhoon season, Ruby formed from an area of low pressure east of the Philippines on October 20. It intensified to a 230 km/h (145 mph) typhoon while approaching central Luzon. It hit the island on the October 24, and rapidly weakened to a minimal typhoon over the island. Ruby, with its disrupted circulation, remained weak over the South China Sea, and land interaction with Vietnam caused it to dissipate on October 28.

Contents

Ruby caused over 300 fatalities, with widespread flooding and damage over its track. Ruby brought heavy rains and a 3.7 meter (12 feet) storm surge to Guam and the Marianas Islands. On Luzon, the storm's 220 km/h (140 mph) winds caused tremendous damage to the town of Siniloan. In the Polillo Islands, east of Manila, Ruby spawned rare tornadoes that leveled homes. In the northern part of the Philippines, many fishing boats were wrecked by 30–40 foot waves, and 32 more people drowned.

The passenger ferry Doña Marilyn was in the Visayan Sea when the storm struck the vessel. The ferry was not designed for deep water, and the open decks let water into the interior of the ship. The storm caused the ferry to pitch to the starboard until one of the decks was below the water, causing the ship to fill up rapidly. The passengers and crew tried to save the ship, but to no avail. The Doña Marilyn sank stern first, taking 389 people with it. Only 147 people survived by clinging to life rafts. Typhoon Ruby was the twelfth most intense tropical cyclone in terms of wind speed to affect the Bicol Region of the nation.

Meteorological history

Typhoon Ruby, the final of four typhoons in October 1988, originated from an area of disturbed weather formed on October 20; consequently, both the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) and Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) started tracking the system at 18:00 UTC. Following an increase in convection, a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) was issued by the JTWC early on October 21. At noon, the JTWC was first classified as a tropical depression while the JMA upgraded the disturbance into a tropical storm. At the time of classification, the cyclone was situated about 1,760 km (1,095 mi) east-southeast of Manila on October 21 and moved southwestwards at first. Early on October 22, the depression rapidly intensified into a tropical storm, and was given the name Ruby.

Initially, the storm moved southeastward, before taking on a westward course typical of a "straight runner". During that afternoon, the JMA reported that Ruby strengthened into a severe tropical storm. Both agencies estimate that Ruby attained typhoon status on October 23 Despite developing a small pinhole eye, Ruby only strengthened slightly over the next 24 hours. However, estimates from the JTWC suggests that Nina steadily strengthened over that period, ultimately attaining peak intensity with winds of strong 230 km/h (145 mph) typhoon, and a pressure of 950 mbar (hPa; 28.05 inHg). Meanwhile, the JMA estimated maximum intensity of 85 mph (135 km/h) and the same pressure. While maintaining a small 30 km (19 mi) eye, Ruby accelerated to a speed of about 27 km/h (17 mph) in its movement towards Luzon. It made landfall over central Luzon early on October 24, while according to the JMA still at maximum intensity. As of 2006, Typhoon Ruby is the twelfth most intense tropical cyclone in terms of wind speed to affect the Bicol Region. Simultaneously, the system was also the most intense tropical cyclone to hit the main island of Luzon since Super Typhoon Patsy of the 1970 season. The system entered the South China Sea the next morning.

Based analysis from the JMA, Ruby was believed to have maintained its intensity over land, although the JTWC noted that Ruby had weakened substantially over land. During the evening of October 25, when it was about 350 km (215 mi) west-northwest of Manila, Ruby weakened slightly and slowed down significantly, moving on an erratic track. It then took on a west-northwestward track at about 20 km/h (12 mph) later on October 26. Around this time, the JMA downgraded Ruby into a severe tropical storm. While moving in the general direction of Hainan, the JTWC estimates that Ruby lost typhoon intensity on the morning of October 27. Increased northeasterly wind shear took toll on the storm, resulting in continued weakening. That afternoon, Ruby struck the island of Hainan, when the JMA estimated winds of 60 mph (95 km/h). Land interaction with the mountains of the island accelerating the weakening trend, and after becoming devoid of deep convection, the JTWC ceased tracking Ruby late on October 28. Eighteen hours later, the JMA followed suit.

Preparations

Prior to the arrival of Ruby, storm warnings were issued in Manila, Visayas Islands, the northern coast of Mindanao and south to central portions of Luzon. Manila's international airport canceled more than 25 domestic flights on October 24. However, international flights operated normally. Classes were suspended on October 22 in Manila, along with most private businesses and government offices. There, all major banks and the city's two stock markets suspended operations for October 24. Numerous ships at U.S. Naval Base Subic Bay were evacuated in advance of Ruby and only "mission-essential personnel" were on duty. All six U.S. military bases in the Philippines were put on maximum alert as the storm neared.

Philippines

Ruby also flattened homes, sank ships, blew buses and trucks off highways, and destroyed coconut, rice, sugar and many other crops. Much of Lupn lost power due to the typhoon. More than 28,190 people were either left homeless or in evacuation centers in ten affected provinces.

Ten people were feared dead, including two whose bodies were recovered, one of whom was a child, on October 23 when a tornado wiped away six villages near Cagayan De Oro, 800 km (500 mi) southeast of Manila. There, five others drowned in floodwaters trigger by flash flooding, leaving a net total of 26,000 homeless. After the Agusan River overflowed its banks, 1,000 houses were destroyed, resulting in more than 20,000 people homeless. The Augsen Bridge was also destroyed by the typhoon. Throughout Cagayan de Oro, damage to agriculture totaled $42.4 million (1987 USD).

The typhoon left fifteen dead in the province of Mindanao's Zamboanga del Sur, 11 in Marikina, six on Camiguin Island, three in Nueva Ecija, two in Surigao City and one in Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Bulacan and Iloilo. In Marikina, a river overflowed their banks, where 15,000 people were rendered homeless, forcing men to rescue survivors on rooftops in boats. In Cugman, a town within the province of Misamis Oriental, six people perished, and six homes were leveled and three children were rescued from a tree. Power was knocked out, numerous landslides occurred, and many trees were toppled in the capital city of Manila, which also sustained widespread flooding but no deaths. A Continental Airlines DC-10 jetliner, which carried 251 passengers from Hawaii, skidded while landing during heavy rain and nearly overshot the runway at the Manila airport, where 24 hour rainfall total exceeded 9 in (230 mm). Elsewhere, three miners died in a landslide in Davao. Six people drowned in Zamboanga del Sur. According to military reports, five people were killed and 40 others were presumed dead when a bus fell under the Sibalom River in the central Panay island after a 300 m (980 ft) bridge under construction collapsed, most of whom were either trapped inside the bus or were swept away by flood waters. Seventeen others were rescued. Five people died in the province of Pagadian, including one in Pagadian City. Around 3,000 people were evacuated due to rough seas in Legazpi. Roughly 150 dwellings were flooded in Cebu City.

Ruby also caused mudslides and tidal surges that left thousands more homeless and forced the cancellation of numerous schools.

The 2,855,000 kg (2,855 t) passenger ferry MV Doña Marilyn sank during Ruby. It was last seen about 325 kilometers (200 miles) southeast of Manila, and was en route from Manila to Tacloban City. There were only fifteen confirmed survivors, as the storm abated. The passenger ferry had 451 passengers plus 60 crew members aboard. The ship had taken over the route of a sister vessel, the Dona Paz, which sank the previous December with a death toll of more than 1,700. A cargo ship picked up eight survivors from the Doña Marilyn; eleven other survivors were found on Maripipi Island and on another very small island, and four were found floating in the water. In a separate incident, the motor vessel Zenaida, with 20 people aboard was reportedly rendered missing off the Quezon province east of Manila. A Philippine navy landing ship and a hospital vessel capsized in heavy waves at Zamboangak, but no casualties were reported. A tugboat owned by the state-run Philippine National Oil Company sank off the Bataan Peninsula, but no casualties occurred. A freighter, the Queen Raquel, broke loose in the storm and smashed into a seawall. where two security guards necessitated rescued by firemen in seven taxicabs. Marikina City suffered from widespread flooding by heavy rains brought by Ruby, and many residents were stranded (many were found on their houses' rooftops and trees, and were later rescued by helicopters). Properties and businesses were flooded and roads were impassable to traffic. President Corazon Aquino declared six regions in Luzon, Visayas and northern Mindanao under a state of calamity.

At least 110,000 of the nation's 56 million people were left homeless. Additionally, 400,000 people were "affected" (their homes were damaged or destroyed.) Damage in the Philippines totaled 5.64 billion Philippine pesos (1989 pesos). Because of the death toll and extreme damages caused by the storm, PAGASA later retires the name Unsang and was replaced by Ulpiang and was first used in the 1996 season.

China

On the afternoon of October 27, Ruby struck the island of Hainan as a tropical storm, killing two people and causing about 133 million RMB of damage. Four other people were reported missing. Ruby also caused heavy flooding on the island, and was one of the costliest flood events of 1988. Ruby's flooding caused over $173 million in damages.

Aftermath

A state of emergency was activated in the province of Cagayan de Oro on October 24. In the suburb of Marikina, military helicopters rescued families trapped in trees for several days following the typhoon. On October 25, Philippines President Corazon Aquino made a surprise visit to a refugee center in Marikina to comfort the typhoon victims and to release half a million dollars in calamity aid. Many schools were used as evacuation centers.

References

Typhoon Ruby (1988) Wikipedia