Sunday, October 27

At least 126 people are dead in the Philippines as the initial effects of Tropical Cyclone Trami start to surface, and it will take the island nation some time to recover from this devastating natural disaster.

Trami began in the western Pacific as a tropical depression and quickly moved westward, strengthening extremely slowly in cool waters. As it approached the Philippines, it took a turn northward and slowed down, heading towards Luzon, the country's largest and most-populous island.

In case you missed it, Trami made landfall midday on Wednesday, bringing heavy rain to Luzon. Flooding trapped people on roofs and in cars, and some people were forced to get around using boats. The storm dumped around 8 inches of rain across the island of Luzon, including the Philippine capital of Manila and the country's most-populous city of Quezon City. Reports showed that flooding in some areas had exceeded 10 feet after rivers had overflowed, filling villages and towns with muddy, brackish water and washing away roads, homes, and businesses. Officials stated that other areas had received more than two months' worth of rain in just 24 hours, which was much more rain than they had prepared for.

Schools and offices were closed ahead of the landfall, and thousands of people were evacuated from vulnerable areas. A large portion of Luzon is extremely low-lying, making it susceptible to flooding, while the other part of the island is more mountainous, making it susceptible to dangerous landslides and mudslides. The original death toll was under 10, but it was expected to rise steeply-- unfortunately, it did. The death toll passed 120 yesterday; sadly, it is still rising, and could exceed 200 in the coming days. Most of the victims of the storm died after being washed away by the thick cascade of mud flowing through villages and towns, although several also died in landslides.

Tropical cyclones in the Philippines are especially dangerous, because they cause excessive flooding in low-lying areas and serious landslides at higher elevations. However, the island chain is no stranger to these storms-- on average, the Philippines is hit by over 20 tropical cyclones per year. Trami was the 11th of this season to hit the archipelago. It will take the island nation time to recover from this disaster, and officials have a large challenge ahead-- many heavily affected regions are no longer accessible by car, so aerial support will have to be mobilized to help isolated, rural areas. Unfortunately, the frequency and intensity of tropical cyclones like this will only increase with climate change, and island nations like the Philippines will suffer the most in that shift as sea level rises.

After hitting Luzon, the storm was expected to travel west in the South China Sea before making a U-turn, causing it to potentially return to the Philippines. However, wind patterns later shifted, leading Trami to make landfall in central Vietnam early this morning. Trami made landfall near the country's fifth-most populous city of Da Nang, home to around 1.25 million people. The city is known for its laid-back, beach town vibe and is considered as one of the best places to live in Vietnam. Despite hitting the area with heavy rain, the impact on Vietnam is expected to be better than the Philippines, and Trami will fizzle out quickly as it passes over the Southeast Asian country.

Fact of the Day (Reader's Digest): There are only two mammals that lay eggs: the spiny anteater and the duck-billed platypus.

Quote of the Day (Gracious Quotes): Brilliant thinking is rare, but courage is in even shorter supply than genius. (Peter Thiel)

Word of the Day (Merriam-Webster): Categorical (adj)- Categorical is a synonym of absolute and definite that describes something that is said in a very strong and clear way. It can also mean "of, relating to, or constituting a category" or "involving, according with, or considered with respect to specific categories."

In a Sentence: The organization has issued a categorical denial about its involvement in the deal.