Typhoon Nina, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Bebeng, was a deadly

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 triggered the Banqiao Dam collapse in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

Henan Henan (; or ; ; alternatively Honan) is a landlocked province of China, in the central part of the country. Henan is often referred to as Zhongyuan or Zhongzhou (), which literally means "central plain" or "midland", although the name is al ...

Province, China in August 1975. It formed on July 30, and gradually intensified as it moved generally to the west. On August 2, Nina reached peak intensity, and a day later the typhoon struck

Taiwan Taiwan, officially the Republic of China (ROC), is a country in East Asia, at the junction of the East and South China Seas in the northwestern Pacific Ocean, with the People's Republic of China (PRC) to the northwest, Japan to the nort ...

. It weakened before moving ashore southeastern China, and later moved slowly through Central China. There, it dropped heavy rainfall, causing several dam failures, including the Banqiao Dam. It is the deadliest typhoon in the Pacific, killing 229,000 people. The floods killed 26,000 people, 100,000 people died from subsequent famine and diseases, and 230,000 people died from the consequences of the

1975 Banqiao Dam failure The 1975 Banqiao Dam failure (simplified Chinese: 河南“75·8”水库溃坝; traditional Chinese: 河南「75·8」水庫潰壩) was the collapse of the Banqiao Dam and 61 other dams in Henan, China, under the influence of Typhoon Nina in A ...

Meteorological history

A well defined trough line extending southeastward into the Philippine Sea spawned a disturbance on July 29. After its initial status as a disturbance, Tropical Depression 04W was designated and moved southwestward for 36 hours as the structure of the system began to organize. On July 31, the depression slowed and began to rapidly intensify, becoming a tropical storm and was named "Nina". It began to turn to the northwest afterward. A subtropical ridge prevented Nina from turning further north and it began to track west-northwest just before reaching typhoon intensity. Nina underwent explosive development on the late hours of August 1. Aircraft reconnaissance reported a 65 hPa drop of pressure, increasing from a mere 65 kn (75 mph, 120 km/h) to 130 kt (150 mph, 240 km/h) the day after. During that period, it attained its peak intensity of 135 kn (155 mph, 250 km/h). The typhoon began to weaken as it approached

, making landfall near the coastal city of Hualien as a Category 3 storm with 100 kn (115 mph, 185 km/h) winds. The storm began to weaken as it went across the island's central mountain range, sparing the most populated areas from the

eyewall The eye is a region of mostly calm weather at the center of tropical cyclones. The eye of a storm is a roughly circular area, typically in diameter. It is surrounded by the ''eyewall'', a ring of towering thunderstorms where the most severe weat ...

. It entered the Formosa Straits as a weak typhoon, making another landfall near Jinjiang,

Fujian Fujian (; alternately romanized as Fukien or Hokkien) is a province on the southeastern coast of China. Fujian is bordered by Zhejiang to the north, Jiangxi to the west, Guangdong to the south, and the Taiwan Strait to the east. Its capi ...

. After moving northwest and crossing

Jiangxi Jiangxi (; ; formerly romanized as Kiangsi or Chianghsi) is a landlocked province in the east of the People's Republic of China. Its major cities include Nanchang and Jiujiang. Spanning from the banks of the Yangtze river in the north int ...

, it turned north on the night of August 5 near

Changde Changde ( ) is a prefecture-level city in the northwest of Hunan province, People's Republic of China. In addition to the urban districts, Changde also administers the county-level city of Jinshi City, Jinshi and six counties. Changde is adjacent ...

Hunan Hunan (, ; ) is a landlocked province of the People's Republic of China, part of the South Central China region. Located in the middle reaches of the Yangtze watershed, it borders the province-level divisions of Hubei to the north, Jiangxi to ...

. A day later, the storm moved over

Xinyang Xinyang (; postal: Sinyang) is a prefecture-level city in southeastern Henan province, People's Republic of China, the southernmost administrative division in the province. Its total population was 6,234,401 according to the 2020 census. As of t ...

, and was later blocked by a cold front near

Zhumadian Zhumadian (; postal: Chumatien) is a prefecture-level city in southern Henan province, China. It borders Xinyang to the south, Nanyang to the west, Pingdingshan to the northwest, Luohe to the north, Zhoukou to the northeast, and the province of An ...

for three days. The stationary thunderstorm system brought heavy rainfall, causing the infamous collapse of the

Banqiao Dam The Banqiao Reservoir Dam () is a dam on the River Ru (), a tributary of the Hong River in Zhumadian City, Henan province, China. The Banqiao dam and Shimantan Reservoir Dam () are among 62 dams in Zhumadian that failed catastrophically in 1975 du ...

. The storm moved southwest on August 8, and dissipated soon afterwards.

Impact

Taiwan

Upon making landfall in Taiwan, the storm brought winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) to places near the storm's eye. Wind gusts were also measured up to . Widespread heavy rainfall, peaking around , from the storm triggered deadly flooding and landslides which killed 29 people and injured 168 others. Reports from the island indicate that 3,000 homes were damaged or destroyed by the typhoon. In the city of Hualien alone, four people were killed, 561 homes were destroyed, and 1,831 more homes were damaged. Across the island, domestic flights, trains, and bus services were all suspended due to the storm; however,

Taipei Songshan Airport Taipei Songshan Airport is a regional airport and military airbase located in Songshan District, Taipei, Taiwan. The airport covers an area of . The civilian section of Songshan Airport has scheduled flights to domestic destinations in Taiwa ...

remained open for international flights.

China

Due to the interaction with the mountains of Taiwan, Nina weakened to a tropical storm before making landfall in China. The storm crossed the coastline with winds of 110 km/h (70 mph); however, little damage resulted near where the system struck land. Further inland, the remnants of the storm produced widespread torrential rainfall, with more than falling across an area of 19,410 km² (7,500 mi²). The heaviest rainfall was recorded along the

where of rain fell, of which fell in a six-hour span. These rains led to the collapse of the

, which received 1-in-2000-year flood conditions. In all, 62 dams failed during the disaster, causing large temporary

lake A lake is an area filled with water, localized in a basin, surrounded by land, and distinct from any river or other outlet that serves to feed or drain the lake. Lakes lie on land and are not part of the ocean, although, like the much large ...

s and $1.2 billion (1975 USD, 6.06 billion USD in 2021) in damage. The floods killed 26,000 people, while another 100,000 people died from subsequent famine and disease. The overall death toll from the event was estimated as high as 230,000.

References

External links

Nina 1975 best track data

Joint Typhoon Warning Center

* ttp://ams.confex.com/ams/27Hurricanes/techprogram/paper_107755.htm 27th Conference on Hurricanes and Tropical Meteorology {{DEFAULTSORT:Nina (1975) 1975 Pacific typhoon season Typhoons in Taiwan Typhoons in China Typhoon Nina Typhoons