With Typhoon Nesat heading toward North Vietnam, moving at 14 mph producing winds of up to 85 mph and gusts of up to 105 mph, Filipino locals say Nesat has brought the worst flooding Manila Bay has seen in decades. So far, 16 are dead, and there are presumably more as at least four are missing.
Nesat hit Luzon Island's northern areas right before sunrise on Tuesday, when it was a Category 3 typhoon, bringing winds of 125 mph with much stronger gusts. Nesat is projected to hit landfall again sometime Thursday night, passing over the Haiku peninsula in China before it hits North Vietnam.
Let's look at the most damaging and deadliest in recent history.
September 2009 -- Typhoon Ondoy
Also known as Typhoon Ketsana, Typhoon Ondoy struck the Philippines on Sept. 26, 2009, and it killed more than 500 people. At the time, Typhoon Ondoy had caused the worst flooding the country and town had seen in a long time. That was at least until Nesat hit this year. This typhoon also hit Vietnam, then devastated Cambodia as well.
October 2009 -- Typhoon Pepeng
Also known as Typhoon Parma, Typhoon Pepeng hit the Philippines in the same area Nesat hit, in northern Luzon, about a week after Ondoy, which was one of the reasons it was so destructive. The death toll was 492 with hundreds more missing. But the first death toll count was at only 15 with another 10 missing. The total monetary damage caused reached upward of $608 million and is to date classified the single most destructive typhoon in Filipino history.
June 2008 -- Typhoon Fengshen
Also known as Typhoon Frank, Fengshen hit the central Filipino town of Iloilo, causing a dam to collapse and sending 30,000 residents to seek higher ground. This report stated there were only 60 dead, but later reports confirmed the total was more. In fact, multiple reports came in throughout the next day and each had a higher tally of persons killed. The Red Cross said there were 229 dead with hundreds more presumed dead after a boat carrying more than 700 passengers capsized.
November 1991 -- Typhoon Uring
Also known as Tropical Storm Thelma, Typhoon Uring made landfall on Nov. 2 and stuck around until Nov. 7, all the while officially killing a total of 5,100 to 8,000. Because of the flooding, Ormoc City was devastated as it was completely submerged under floodwaters. This typhoon is labeled as the single deadliest typhoon in all of Filipino history; in fact, it is one of the deadliest and costliest in the 20th century, according to HurricaneScience.org. Leaving more than 50,000 homeless, the total damage costs were estimated at $30.4 million.
