Typhoons disrupt East Asia as El Niño fuels powerful storms

A succession of powerful typhoons has killed dozens, damaged crops and infrastructure, and disrupted transport across East Asia as El Niño alters storm tracks and keeps Pacific waters unusually warm.

The disruption has stretched from the Philippines and Taiwan to China and Japan. The BBC reports that the region’s accumulated cyclone energy, a measure combining storm strength and duration over a season, is forecast to reach nearly twice its 30-year average this year.

Although the typhoon season usually peaks in September and October, forecasts of continued ocean warming have raised concern about further storms after months of evacuations, flooding and power cuts.

October storm disrupted flights across the region

Typhoon Champi prompted a near-total shutdown in Taiwan in October as it approached the island’s north-eastern coast with winds of 295km/h, equivalent in strength to a category five hurricane.

The storm ultimately skirted Taiwan rather than making landfall, but brought heavy rain and disruption well beyond the island. Hundreds of flights were cancelled across Hong Kong, Taiwan and Japan.

In the Philippines’ northern Batanes archipelago, huge waves forced the closure of coastal highways. In Japan’s southern Okinawa islands, about 15,000 homes lost power.

Those impacts followed a series of damaging storms earlier in the year. In June, Typhoon Mekkhala and Severe Tropical Storm Higos approached Japan’s eastern coast simultaneously, forcing one million people to evacuate. Tropical Storm Narra then grazed southern China’s Guangxi region in July, flooding villages and displacing tens of thousands.

In August, Super Typhoon Dolphin spent 16 days crossing the Pacific before striking eastern China and triggering heavy flooding. Later that month, Typhoon Saudel disrupted transport and forced thousands to evacuate in south-eastern China.

Warmer waters give storms more time to strengthen

El Niño is a naturally occurring climate pattern involving warmer waters in the eastern Pacific and changes in winds that influence weather around the world. It typically occurs every two to seven years and lasts about a year.

This year’s episode is expected to persist until February or March. The UK Met Office has forecast that it could be the strongest in living memory.

Changed wind patterns are helping typhoons form farther east than usual, allowing them to spend longer over warm ocean waters and gain strength before reaching land.

Ana Liza Solis, head of climatology at the Philippines’ national weather bureau, likened the Pacific to someone “burning with fever” during a September briefing in Manila.

The BBC report puts October sea-surface temperatures in the equatorial Pacific area monitored by the Japan Meteorological Agency at 4C above normal, the highest since records began in 1949. China’s climate agency has warned that sea-surface temperatures could continue rising over the next three months.

Preparedness extends beyond the next landfall

Authorities have been preparing for further disruption. Japan has urged residents to stockpile food and essentials and secure outdoor furniture that could become dangerous in strong winds. China has asked local officials to identify vulnerable areas while upgrading warning and monitoring systems.

The Philippines and neighbouring South East Asian countries are also preparing for disruption to food production, particularly rice, with additional support for farmers, including fertilisers.

The United Nations Development Programme in Asia and the Pacific has warned that the window for action on El Niño is closing. It says the severity of a community’s experience depends on decisions made years earlier, including where roads and homes are built, how water is managed and whether social protection and public budgets can absorb the shock.

After repeated storms have interrupted flights, closed coastal roads and forced large-scale evacuations, those preparations remain central to limiting the damage from the rest of the season.