An Overview of Disasters Resulted from Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan

Abstract

The purpose of this paper is to provide information on disasters caused by Typhoon Morakot in Taiwan. The torrential rainfall is regarded as the main cause, so information on the torrential rainfall is explored first. The maximum cumulative rainfall depth observed during Typhoon Morakot approached the world’s greatest point rainfall record, and isohyets of cumulative rainfall depth are included, together with storm centers. Storm centers are important to disasters resulted from Typhoon Morakot, because these disasters occurred around or downstream from storm centers. Disasters triggered by Typhoon Morakot include floods, landslides, landslide dams, driftwood accumulation, and water supply disruption. Those occurring simultaneously or consecutively at one location are termed “compound hazards.” Current warning systems for single disasters may not be sufficient to handle compound hazards, suggesting that we must develop new systems for issuing early warnings about compound hazards.