Typhoon Nari, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Kiko, was an unusually long-lived category 3

typhoon A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that develops between 180° and 100°E in the Northern Hemisphere. This region is referred to as the Northwestern Pacific Basin, and is the most active tropical cyclone basin on Earth, accounting for a ...

which took an erratic, two week track near

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 ...

during September 2001. It was the 16th typhoon to be named in the

2001 Pacific typhoon season The 2001 Pacific typhoon season was the fourth and final consecutive year with below-average activity, making it the lowest four-year period of activity since 1976–1979, due to the presence of a strong La Niña that had persisted from 1998–200 ...

Meteorological history

Impact

Striking two months after Taiwan's second deadliest typhoon, Toraji, Nari brought torrential rainfall to much of the island. Numerous landslides triggered by the storm's rain destroyed homes and buried people. At least 94 people were killed on the island due to the storm and 10 others were listed as missing. Agricultural losses from Nari were estimated at

NT$ The New Taiwan dollar (code: TWD; symbol: NT$, also abbreviated as NT) is the official currency of Taiwan. The New Taiwan dollar has been the currency of Taiwan since 1949, when it replaced the Old Taiwan dollar, at a rate of 40,000 old dollars ...

2.9 billion (US$84 million). In mountainous regions, more than of rain fell over a two-day span, leading to many rivers overflowing their banks. On September 17, some areas recorded a record-breaking during a single day, equivalent to four months of rain in Taiwan. At the height of the storm, an estimated 650,000 people were without power and 350,000 lost their water and telephone service. Most of the fatalities took place around the city of

Taipei Taipei (), officially Taipei City, is the capital and a special municipality of the Republic of China (Taiwan). Located in Northern Taiwan, Taipei City is an enclave of the municipality of New Taipei City that sits about southwest of the n ...

and nearby counties. The metro system in the city was severely damaged by floods and was not expected to be working for at least six months.

Aftermath

In response to the severe damage, the Taiwanese government deployed roughly 8,000 soldiers to assist in search-and-rescue operations across the island. Nearly 10,000 people in northern and central Taiwan were relocated to shelters set up across the region. Already suffering from an economic downturn from the

September 11, 2001 terrorist attacks The September 11 attacks, commonly known as 9/11, were four coordinated suicide terrorist attacks carried out by al-Qaeda against the United States on Tuesday, September 11, 2001. That morning, nineteen terrorists hijacked four commercial ...

in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, the economy of Taiwan was severely affected by Nari. Businesses across the island were shut down and the stock exchange was closed for several days. Moreover, after it reopened, there was significantly less stock activity as hundreds of thousands of residents were either unable to get to work or were hampered by travel issues.

Meteorological history

Impact

Aftermath

See also

References

External links