Tropical Storm Sonca was a weak

tropical cyclone A tropical cyclone is a rapidly rotating storm system characterized by a low-pressure center, a closed low-level atmospheric circulation, strong winds, and a spiral arrangement of thunderstorms that produce heavy rain and squalls. Depend ...

that impacted

Indochina Mainland Southeast Asia, also known as the Indochinese Peninsula or Indochina, is the continental portion of Southeast Asia. It lies east of the Indian subcontinent and south of Mainland China and is bordered by the Indian Ocean to the west an ...

during the end of July 2017.

Meteorological history

On July 21, both the JMA and the JTWC reported that Tropical Depression 08W had developed approximately 582 km (361 mi) to the south of

Hong Kong Hong Kong ( (US) or (UK); , ), officially the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region of the People's Republic of China ( abbr. Hong Kong SAR or HKSAR), is a city and special administrative region of China on the eastern Pearl River Delt ...

. After moving westward for a couple of days, the system strengthened into a tropical storm by both agencies while nearing the island province of

Hainan Hainan (, ; ) is the smallest and southernmost province of the People's Republic of China (PRC), consisting of various islands in the South China Sea. , the largest and most populous island in China,The island of Taiwan, which is slightly l ...

, receiving the name ''Sonca''. By July 24, Sonca reached its maximum intensity with a minimum pressure of 994 hPa. Early on July 25, the JTWC issued its final advisory as the system made landfall over in Quảng Trị Province, Vietnam.

Preparations and impact

Vietnam

At least six people were killed when the storm made landfall on July 25, all in the provinces of Hà Tĩnh and

Quảng Trị Quảng Trị () is a district-level town in Quảng Trị Province in the North Central Coast region of Vietnam. It is second of two municipalities in the province after the provincial capital Đông Hà. History The Sino-Vietnamese name Quả ...

. Also, about 1,500 houses were damaged in these two provinces. Across the whole of Vietnam, roughly of

paddy field A paddy field is a flooded field (agriculture), field of arable land used for growing Aquatic plant, semiaquatic crops, most notably rice and taro. It originates from the Neolithic rice-farming cultures of the Yangtze River basin in sout ...

and of croplands were damaged. In Nghe An Province total dâmge by the storm reached 127 billion dong (US$5.6 million). Total damage in Vietnam reached 300.7 billion dong (US$13 million).

Cambodia

Tropical Storm Sonca affected four provinces across Cambodia, at least three people died and 2686 houses were submerged. 53 households were affected and only 23 were evacuated.

Thailand

Flash floods across Thailand killed 23 people and affected 44 out of 76 provinces in Thailand. The hardest hit province was

Sakon Nakhon Sakon Nakhon ( th, สกลนคร, ; sometimes written Sakhon Nakhon) is a city (thesaban nakhon) in Thailand within the Isan region, and capital city of Sakon Nakhon Province as well as Mueang Sakon Nakhon District, with a population of ap ...

Northeast Thailand Northeast Thailand or Isan (Isan/ th, อีสาน, ; lo, ອີສານ; also written as Isaan, Isarn, Issarn, Issan, Esan, or Esarn; from Pali ''īsānna'' or Sanskrit ईशान्य ''īśānya'' "northeast") consists of 20 provin ...

as the storm forced the closer of

Sakon Nakhon Airport Sakon Nakhon Airport ( th, ท่าอากาศยานสกลนคร) is an airport in Sakon Nakhon, Thailand. It is used for civil and military purposes (Royal Thai Air Force). Airlines and destinations Accidents *On 23 September ...

lasting for 3 days. Damages in Sakon Nakhon exceeded 100 million

baht The baht (; th, บาท, ; currency sign, sign: ฿; ISO 4217, code: THB) is the official currency of Thailand. It is divided into 100 ''satang'' (, ). The issuance of currency is the responsibility of the Bank of Thailand. Society for Worldw ...

(US$3 million). Some say that Northeast Thailand has had its worst flooding in two decades. Heavy rain damaged bridges in Khon Kaen province and flooded buildings in Ubon Ratchathani province and Sisaket province, where some people were relocated to temporary accommodations. In Lopburi province, some people were rescued by boat after the roads became impassable. In Sukhothai province, the

Yom River The Yom River ( th, แม่น้ำยม, , ) is a river in Thailand. It is the main tributary of the Nan River (which itself is a tributary of the Chao Phraya River). The Yom River has its source in the Phi Pan Nam Range in Pong District, Ph ...

flooded, and sandbags were used to help contain the floodwaters. Trains had to be re-routed in

Nong Khai province Nong Khai province ( th, หนองคาย, ) was formerly the northernmost of the Isan, northeastern (Isan) Provinces of Thailand, provinces (''changwat'') of Thailand until its eight eastern districts were split off to form Thailand's newes ...

when telephone poles fell on the tracks. In total, the damage from flooding triggered by the storm in Thailand reached 10 billion baht (US$300 million).

References

External links

JMA General Information
of Tropical Storm Sonca (1708) from Digital Typhoon
08W.SONCA
from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory {{DEFAULTSORT:Sonca (2017) 2017 Pacific typhoon season Typhoons in Vietnam 2017 in Thailand 2017 disasters in Vietnam July 2017 events in Asia Sonca Western Pacific tropical storms