Severe Tropical Storm Lekima, known in the

Philippines The Philippines, officially the Republic of the Philippines, is an Archipelagic state, archipelagic country in Southeast Asia. Located in the western Pacific Ocean, it consists of List of islands of the Philippines, 7,641 islands, with a tot ...

as Tropical Depression Hanna was a deadly tropical storm that affected both

and

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 ...

in late September and early October 2007. The fourteenth named storm of the

2007 Pacific typhoon season The 2007 Pacific typhoon season was a near average season which featured 24 named storms, fourteen typhoons, and five super typhoons. It was an event in the annual cycle of tropical cyclone formation, in which tropical cyclones form in the weste ...

, Lekima formed from a quick-moving tropical depression on the

Philippine Sea The Philippine Sea is a List of seas#Marginal seas by ocean, marginal sea of the Pacific Ocean, Western Pacific Ocean east of the list of islands of the Philippines, Philippine Archipelago (hence the name) and the List of seas#Largest seas ...

in late September. After crossing

Luzon Luzon ( , ) is the largest and most populous List of islands in the Philippines, island in the Philippines. Located in the northern portion of the List of islands of the Philippines, Philippine archipelago, it is the economic and political ce ...

and leaving

Philippine Area of Responsibility The Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) is an area in the Northwestern Pacific where PAGASA, the Philippines' national meteorological agency, monitors weather occurrences. Significant weather disturbances, specifically typhoons that enter o ...

, the tropical depression organized into a tropical storm. The storm quickly strengthened into a severe tropical storm and reached a peak intensity of , while slowly tracking west-northwest on September 30. Lekima would stay at peak intensity for the remainder of its life until the cyclone made a final landfall over

Central Vietnam Central Vietnam ( or ), also known as Middle Vietnam or The Middle, formerly known as by the State of Vietnam, by the Republic of Vietnam, or '' Annam'' under French colonial rule, is one of the three geographical regions within Vietnam. Th ...

on October 3. The remnants dissipated over land later that day. In the

, Hanna brought heavy torrential rains to Luzon that caused landslides which killed eight people in the province of Ifugao, as well as flooding, infrastructure damage, agricultural damage and disruption of transportation service in other parts of the

. In

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 ...

, over 100,000 people were evacuated, six flights were cancelled and more than 20,000 fishing boats were recalled back to the harbors. Greatest impacts were reported in

, as the associated rains caused hundreds of homes to be destroyed. More than 6,000 houses were washed away by the storm and 52,000 others were damaged in Vietnam. Extensive regions were affected causing heavy damage to the local agriculture. Ultimately, 86 people were killed (of which 15 people were from the Thanh Hóa Province), and total damages were estimated to be at $131 million (2007 USD).

Meteorological history

A tropical disturbance wave near the

were detected to be developing and

PAGASA The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (, abbreviated as PAGASA , which means "hope" as in the Tagalog language, Tagalog word ''pag-asa'') is the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS ...

quickly upgraded it to Tropical Depression ''Hanna'' on September 27. PAGASA upgraded it into a tropical storm the next day. It made landfall in central

early on September 29, and at the same time JMA upgraded the developing system into a tropical depression, while JTWC started a TCFA shortly thereafter at 09:00

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 ...

on the same day. JMA declared the system Tropical Storm Lekima on the next day. It continued to strengthen and Lekima was upgraded into a severe tropical storm on September 30 by JMA and would remain as such until landfall. Meanwhile, JTWC upgraded Lekima into a typhoon in October 2 and it would also remain as such until landfall. Lekima was the largest newborn tropical system on record by diameter at 1700 km at the time before being beaten by Tropical Storm Kompasu 14 years later by 200 km. Lekima made landfall on Quảng Trạch District,

Quảng Bình Province Quảng Bình was formerly a southern coastal Provinces of Vietnam, province in the North Central Coast region, the Central Vietnam, Central of Việt Nam, Vietnam. It borders Hà Tĩnh province, Hà Tĩnh to the north, Quảng Trị province, ...

at 12:00 UTC in October 3 as a severe tropical storm. JTWC published the last Tropical Cyclone Warning later that day at 18:00 UTC while downgrading Lekima into a tropical storm, and JMA followed the suit at the same time. On the next day, Lekima weakened into a tropical depression over

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 ...

by JMA, but JTWC did not follow suit. Lekima dissipated over land on October 5.

Preparations and impact

Philippines

Hanna brought heavy rains to Luzon causing a landslide that killed eight people, including three children, in Ifugao province, while another person was found dead in

Quezon City Quezon City (, ; ), also known as the City of Quezon and Q.C. (read and pronounced in Filipino language, Filipino as Kyusi), is the richest and List of cities in the Philippines, most populous city in the Philippines. According to the 2020 c ...

. Torrential rains also caused landslides, flooding, infrastructure damage, and disruption of transportation service in other parts of the country. A Office of Civil Defense administrator said that several people had to leave their homes, mainly in the north of the country, and that heavy rains damaged roads and bridges, as well as damaging the local agriculture.

China

Over 100,000 people were evacuated in southern China as the storm approached, six flights were cancelled and more than 20,000 fishing boats were recalled back to the

harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

s.USA Today
Thousands flee as typhoon nears China
October 2, 2007.

Vietnam

Over 400,000 people were reported to have been evacuated in Vietnam as the storm approached. Upon arrival, associated rains caused heavy damage as about hundreds of houses were destroyed, more than 6,000 houses were washed away by the storm and 52,000 others were damaged.

Deutsche Welle (; "German Wave"), commonly shortened to DW (), is a German state-funded television network, state-owned international broadcaster funded by the Federal Government of Germany. The service is available in 32 languages. DW's satellite tele ...

Central Vietnam hit by typhoon Lekima
. October 4, 2007. Many regions were affected by the storm, causing heavy damage to the local agriculture. More than 10 million people were affected by the storm. In total, 86 people were killed, 15 of which were located in Thanh Hóa Province. Total damages were estimated to be at $131 million (2007 USD).

Notes

References

External links

JMA General Information
of Severe Tropical Storm Lekima (0714) from Digital Typhoon
JMA Best Track Data
of Severe Tropical Storm Lekima (0714)
JMA Best Track Data (Graphics)
of Severe Tropical Storm Lekima (0714)

16W.LEKIMA
from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory {{DEFAULTSORT:Lekima 2007 Pacific typhoon season Typhoons in Vietnam Typhoons in the Philippines Western Pacific severe tropical storms Tropical Storm Lekima 2007 disasters in the Philippines Lekima