Severe Tropical Storm Cecil in May of 1989 caused devastating floods in central

Vietnam Vietnam, officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam (SRV), is a country at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of about and a population of over 100 million, making it the world's List of countries and depende ...

, killing 751 people. The storm developed as a tropical depression over the

South China Sea The South China Sea is a marginal sea of the Western Pacific Ocean. It is bounded in the north by South China, in the west by the Indochinese Peninsula, in the east by the islands of Taiwan island, Taiwan and northwestern Philippines (mainly Luz ...

on May 22. Tracking north-northwestward, the system steadily intensified, attaining peak winds of . The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) assessed Cecil to have been slightly stronger with one-minute sustained winds of . The storm made

landfall Landfall is the event of a storm moving over land after being over water. More broadly, and in relation to human travel, it refers to 'the first land that is reached or seen at the end of a journey across the sea or through the air, or the fact ...

near Hoi An, Vietnam early on May 25 and quickly weakened. The system later dissipated over Laos on May 26. In Vietnam, heavy rains accompanied the storm, amounting to over in some areas, triggered catastrophic and deadly flooding. Widespread structural and agricultural losses took place in addition to the significant loss of life, with damage estimated at ₫300 billion ($71.7 million). In the wake of the flooding, some international aid was sent to Vietnam, though most relief work was conducted by the nation's government, local agencies, and the

Red Cross The organized International Red Cross and Red Crescent Movement is a Humanitarianism, humanitarian movement with approximately 16million volunteering, volunteers, members, and staff worldwide. It was founded to protect human life and health, to ...

Meteorological history

On May 20, following Typhoon Brenda's passage through the

, a

monsoon trough The monsoon trough is a convergence zone between the wind patterns of the southern and northern hemispheres. It is a portion of the Intertropical Convergence Zone in the Western Pacific,Bin WangThe Asian Monsoon.Retrieved 2008-05-03. and is dep ...

extending from the area into the

Bay of Bengal The Bay of Bengal is the northeastern part of the Indian Ocean. Geographically it is positioned between the Indian subcontinent and the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese peninsula, located below the Bengal region. Many South Asian and Southe ...

received enhanced low-level southwesterly flow. An environment of weak

wind shear Wind shear (; also written windshear), sometimes referred to as wind gradient, is a difference in wind speed and/or direction over a relatively short distance in the atmosphere. Atmospheric wind shear is normally described as either vertical ...

in the wake of the typhoon allowed a new

area of low pressure In meteorology, a low-pressure area (LPA), low area or low is a region where the atmospheric pressure is lower than that of surrounding locations. It is the opposite of a high-pressure area. Low-pressure areas are commonly associated with inclem ...

to form within the southwesterly flow on May 21. With

convection Convection is single or Multiphase flow, multiphase fluid flow that occurs Spontaneous process, spontaneously through the combined effects of material property heterogeneity and body forces on a fluid, most commonly density and gravity (see buoy ...

becoming persistent and the system's overall presentation more organized by May 22, the JTWC issued a

Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert A Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert (TCFA) is a bulletin released by the U.S. Navy-operated Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Honolulu, Hawaii or the Fleet Weather Center in Norfolk, Virginia, warning of the possibility of a tropical cyclone formi ...

at 0300

UTC Coordinated Universal Time (UTC) is the primary time standard globally used to regulate clocks and time. It establishes a reference for the current time, forming the basis for civil time and time zones. UTC facilitates international communica ...

. Around this time, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) classified the system as a tropical depression. Later that day, convection wrapped entirely around the center of circulation; this structural improvement, combined with nearby surface observations, prompted the JTWC to designate the system as Tropical Storm Cecil. Initially, Cecil was forecast to maintain a northward track into a weakness in a

subtropical ridge The horse latitudes are the latitudes about 30 degrees north and south of the Equator. They are characterized by sunny skies, calm winds, and very little precipitation. They are also known as subtropical ridges or highs. It is a high-pressur ...

left behind by Typhoon Brenda; however, Cecil turned westward on May 23 due to another

ridge A ridge is a long, narrow, elevated geomorphologic landform, structural feature, or a combination of both separated from the surrounding terrain by steep sides. The sides of a ridge slope away from a narrow top, the crest or ridgecrest, wi ...

over

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. With population of China, a population exceeding 1.4 billion, it is the list of countries by population (United Nations), second-most populous country after ...

. With favorable atmospheric conditions, Cecil continued to intensify through May 24. By 0600 UTC, a ragged wide

eye An eye is a sensory organ that allows an organism to perceive visual information. It detects light and converts it into electro-chemical impulses in neurons (neurones). It is part of an organism's visual system. In higher organisms, the ey ...

developed over the center of circulation, indicating it had become a typhoon. The storm ultimately attained peak winds of while situated just off the coast of central

. However, the JMA reported Cecil to have been slightly weaker, classifying it as a severe tropical storm with ten-minute sustained winds of . Around 1800 UTC (just after midnight on May 25, local time), the storm made

near Hoi An with winds of . Once onshore, Cecil quickly weakened to a tropical depression. Turning slightly to the west-northwest, the remnants of Cecil continued inland before dissipating over eastern

Laos Laos, officially the Lao People's Democratic Republic (LPDR), is the only landlocked country in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by Myanmar and China to the northwest, Vietnam to the east, Cambodia to the southeast, and Thailand to the west and ...

early on May 26.

Impact and aftermath

In addition to the considerable losses that took place in Vietnam, Cecil also produced heavy rains in

and northeastern

Thailand Thailand, officially the Kingdom of Thailand and historically known as Siam (the official name until 1939), is a country in Southeast Asia on the Mainland Southeast Asia, Indochinese Peninsula. With a population of almost 66 million, it spa ...

, resulting in flooding and crop damage.

Vietnam

Tropical Storm Cecil was regarded as the worst storm to strike Vietnam in 50 years. In some areas, rainfall exceeded . Approximately 105,600 hectares of rice and other crops were destroyed and another 78,300 hectares were otherwise inundated. About 7,500 metric tons of rice seeds were also lost. The hardest hit areas were in Quảng Nam Province, where damage reached ₫300 billion ($71.7 million). The storm destroyed at least 10,000 homes and damaged another 27,000, leaving an estimated 336,000 people homeless. Approximately 60 percent of the forests and forestry nurseries in the province were ruined. By June 5, 151 people were confirmed dead across the country with another 600 missing. Eventually, the death toll was revised to 751 as all missing persons were considered dead. In the wake of the storm, Vietnamese soldiers were deployed to rescue survivors. Local police forces were also stepped up to prevent looting. On June 5 government also requested international assistance to deal with the scale of the disaster. However, this was later retracted on June 16, though spontaneous donations were appreciated. The governments of

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

and

France France, officially the French Republic, is a country located primarily in Western Europe. Overseas France, Its overseas regions and territories include French Guiana in South America, Saint Pierre and Miquelon in the Atlantic Ocean#North Atlan ...

provided Vietnam with $75,188 and $73,964 in funds respectively. Additionally, the Swedish

donated clothing, which was later distributed by the local Red Cross along with medicine and relief supplies. A total of ₫52 million ($124,000) worth of funds and relief supplies, including of fabric, and two tons of clothing, was sent to Quang Nam province.

Notes

References

External links