瓦西(Washi)颱風在當地時間16號星期五深夜，夾帶著強風豪雨，引發大量洪水和土石流，沖進菲律賓南部民答那峨島的河濱與沿岸村莊，重創該島「卡加揚德奧羅」（Cagayan de Oro）和「伊里甘」（Iligan）等地，造成嚴重傷亡，摧毀1萬多間房屋並造成30多萬人流離失所，這些民眾如今大多待在緊急避難所。
菲律賓國家減災風險管理委員會(National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council)負責人拉莫斯(Benito Ramos)說，遠至菲律賓中部莫好島(Bohol)的漁民，都在幫忙打撈被沖到好幾百英里外的遺體。
拉莫斯接受廣播電台訪問時說：「只要海中有遺體，搜尋與打撈作業就會持續進行，甚至新年以後也是如此。」當局已經把搜索區域擴大到半徑300公里範圍。
Washi, known locally in the Philippines as Sendong, began as a tropical depression on December 13, 2011 in the West Pacific Ocean about 2150 km (~1333 miles) due east of the southern Philippines. Washi only intensified slightly and never exceeded tropical storm intensity as it tracked due west towards the southern Philippines’ island of Mindanao.
Washi made landfall on the east coast of Mindanao on the afternoon of Dec. 16 as a moderate tropical storm with sustained winds reported at 55 knots (~63 mph). Despite its modest intensity, Washi had a huge impact on the island. As Washi made its way across Mindanao, it dumped heavy rains over parts of the island, which in turn triggered flash floods and mudslides.
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| Image Credit: NASA/SSAI, Hal Pierce
NASA’s Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM) satellite produced the image above late on December 15, 2011. In this image, it shows the tallest thunderstorms in the storm that reached around 15 kilometers or approximately 9.3 miles. The TRMM estimated only heavy rainfall located in the southwest quadrant of the storm early on December 15. By that evening, the storm had intensified and was showing rainfall estimates of at least two inches (50 mm) per hour in the east, north, and western quadrants. Some areas across the region, including Mindanao, saw rainfall totals you would typically see in a month in just one day. Everyone pays attention to the winds of a tropical system, but the biggest threat from any tropical cyclone is heavy rain, flooding, and storm surge.
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Google's Person Finder
Tagahanap ng Tao: Bagyong Sendong
Person Finder: Typhoon Sendong
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| Google Crisis Map - Typhoon Washi (Sendong) |
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| NASA’s Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite image : view & download |
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| More NASA’s EO-1 satellite images |
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| Philippine flood devastation, BBC News, More Pictures .... |
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| Typhoon Washi slams Philippines, REUTERS, More pictures ..... |
via: Google Crisis Response, NASA’s Earth Observatory, EarthSky.org, BBC News, REUTERS, The Watchers, 中央廣播電臺
