What damage do typhoons cause?


Quick Answer

Damage from typhoons includes landslides and mudslides; heavy flooding; destruction of vehicles, buildings, roads and bridges; shipwrecks; power outages and human injury and death. Many people sustain injuries or die due to flying debris, collapsed buildings, flooding, mudslides and landslides, and storm surges.

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Full Answer

Typhoons also cause damage on low coral islands, which at times become flooded with waves that reach a height of 30 meters at sea, and masses of ocean water can sweep across an island, annihilating every structure and tree in their paths. In most cases, structures such as thatched-roof huts are easily destroyed; however, more modern structures are able to withstand the strong winds of typhoons.

Long-term damage associated with typhoons includes starvation, diseases such as cholera and dysentery, water contamination, and destruction of food and agricultural land. Factories can be completely demolished, and transport routes get destroyed. Infrastructure may suffer considerable damage. In severe cases, people are forced to migrate to find shelter, food and clean water.

Typhoons are responsible for causing thousands of deaths and billions of dollars worth of damage. For instance, $9 million worth of damage was caused by Typhoon Cimaron in the Philippines. Hurricane Katrina was one of United States' most costly natural disasters. It caused $125 billion worth of damage and over 1,800 deaths.

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