SUPER TYPHOON NINA

The storm began to weaken as it battered across the island's central mountain range, sparing the most populated areas from the eyewall. It entered the Formosa Straits as a weak typhoon and the storm came ashore near Jinjiang, Fujian, China.

After moving toward the northwest and crossing Jiangxi, it turned north on the night of August 5 near Changde, Hunan. A day later, the storm moved over Xinyang, Henan, and later was blocked by a cold front near Zhumadian, Henan for three days.

The stationary thunderstorm system brought heavy rainfall, causing the infamous collapse of the Banqiao Dam. The storm moved southwest on August 8, and dissipated soon afterwards.

SUPER TYPHOON NINA

INDEX

How was the typhoon caused and what was it's impact?

THINK!!!

WHEN

CAUSE

Nina's unparalleled destructive power derived not from its winds but from the catastrophic flooding it triggered. Indeed, the typhoon had already spent most of its strength crossing Taiwan's central mountain range and had weakened to a tropical storm by the time it struck China. As it stalled over the mainland, Nina cranked out 42 inches (1,060 millimeters) of rain in 24 hours -- a year's worth of central China's precipitation, delivered in a day. The deluge collapsed the Banqiao Dam and destroyed more than 60 other dams along with it

WHEN

WHERE

TAIWAN

EXTENT OF

DESTRUCTION

WHERE

Upon making landfall in Taiwan, the storm brought winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) to places near the storm's eye. Wind gusts were also measured up to 222 km/h (138 mph). Widespread heavy rainfall, peaking around 700 mm (28 in), from the storm triggered deadly flooding and landslides which killed 29 people and injured 168 others. Reports from the island indicate that 3,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the typhoon. In the city of Hualien alone, four people were killed, 561 homes were destroyed and 1,831 more were damaged. Across the island, domestic flights, trains, and bus services were all suspended due to the storm; however, Taipei Songshan Airport remained open for international flights.

Super typhoon Nina took place in July 31, 1975. It was the fourth deadliest tropical cyclone.

CHINA

Due to the interaction with the mountains of Taiwan, Nina weakened to a tropical storm before making landfall in mainland China. The storm crossed the coastline with winds of 110 km/h (70 mph); however, little damage resulted near where the system struck land. Further inland, the remnants of the storm produced widespread torrential rainfall, with more than 400 mm (16 in) falling across an area of 19,410 km2 (7,500 mi2). The heaviest rainfall was recorded along the Banqiao Dam where 1,631 mm (64.2 in) of rain fell, 830 mm (33 in) of which fell in a six hour span. These rains led to the collapse of the Banqiao Dam, which received 1-in-2000-year flood conditions. In all, 62 dams failed during the disaster, causing large temporary lakes and $1.2 billion (1975 USD) in damage.

"Boxes aren't necessarily bad places to think in."

3 Facts about typhoon NINA

1

When the dams were first constructed, cracks and separations appeared. They were then repaired, reinforced and expanded with the help of Soviet engineers. In return the new design was referred to as the “iron dam” and was mistakenly considered to be unbreakable.

#1

Employee

The rate at which the Banqiao Dam emptied is the equivalent of 31.5 Olympic swimming pools emptying per second.

2

The total volume of water spilled from broken dams as a result of Typhoon Nina would cover the entire state Vermont in 618 millimeters (24.3 inches) of standing water. (Or NY state with 111 millimeters [4.4 inches]).

3

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