Tropical Storm Rumbia (2013)
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Severe Tropical Storm Rumbia, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Gorio, was a tropical cyclone that brought widespread flooding in areas of the Philippines and
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 ...
late June and early July 2013. The sixth internationally named storm of the
season A season is a division of the year based on changes in weather, ecology, and the number of daylight hours in a given region. On Earth, seasons are the result of the axial parallelism of Earth's axial tilt, tilted orbit around the Sun. In temperat ...
, Rumbia formed from a broad 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 ...
situated in the southern
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 ...
on June 27. Steadily organizing, the initial tropical depression moved towards the northwest as the result of a nearby
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 ...
. On June 28, the disturbance strengthened to tropical storm strength, and subsequently made its first landfall on
Eastern Samar Eastern Samar ( Waray-Waray: ''Sinirangan Samar''; ), officially the Province of Eastern Samar, is a province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas region. Its capital is the city of Borongan, which is the most populous. Eastern Samar ...
in the Philippines early the following day. Rumbia spent roughly a day moving across the archipelago before emerging into 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 ...
. Over open waters, Rumbia resumed strengthening, and reached its peak intensity with winds of 95 km/h (50 mph) on July 1, ranking it as a severe tropical storm. The tropical cyclone weakened slightly before moving ashore the
Leizhou Peninsula The Leizhou Peninsula, alternately romanized as the Luichow Peninsula, is a peninsula in the southernmost part of Guangdong province in South China. As of 2015, the population of the peninsula was 5,694,245. The largest city by population and ...
late that day. Due to land interaction, Rumbia quickly weakened into a low pressure area on July 2 and eventually dissipated soon afterwards. Prior to moving over the Philippines, extensive preparatory measures were undertaken by local and government relief agencies. In the provinces of
Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas (; ; ; ) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte, and Biliran. The region has six provinces: Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Easte ...
and Caraga, an estimated
The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...
6.9 million was allocated to relief materials. Upon landfall, Rumbia caused extensive flooding across multiple islands, causing the cessation of transportation services and displacing thousands of people.
Power outage A power outage, also called a blackout, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, a power cut, or a power out is the complete loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an el ...
s also resulted from the heavy rain and strong winds. At its landfall on Leizhou Peninsula in China, Rumbia damaged large swaths of agricultural cropland and destroyed at least 112 buildings, causing ¥1.17 billion (
US$ The United States dollar (Currency symbol, symbol: Dollar sign, $; ISO 4217, currency code: USD) is the official currency of the United States and International use of the U.S. dollar, several other countries. The Coinage Act of 1792 introdu ...
191 million) in damage.


Meteorological history

In late June 2013, an area of disturbed weather persisted in the southern
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 ...
, accompanied by a broad 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 ...
. Moving northwestward under the influence of 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 ...
, the system organized in favorable conditions of low
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 ...
the following day. At 1200 UTC on June 27, the disturbance became sufficiently organized to be classified as a tropical depression by the
Japan Meteorological Agency The Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA; ''気象庁, Kishō-chō'') is a division of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism dedicated to the Scientific, scientific observation and research of natural phenomena. Headquartered ...
 (JMA); at the time the depression had winds of 55 km/h (35 mph) and a minimum
barometric pressure Atmospheric pressure, also known as air pressure or barometric pressure (after the barometer), is the pressure within the atmosphere of Earth. The standard atmosphere (symbol: atm) is a unit of pressure defined as , which is equivalent to 1,013.2 ...
of 1006 mbar (hPa; 29.71 inHg). Three hours later, the
Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (, abbreviated as PAGASA , which means "hope" as in the Tagalog word ''pag-asa'') is the National Meteorological and Hydrological Services (NMHS) agency of the P ...
 (PAGASA) upgraded the system to tropical depression status, designating it with the local name ''Gorio''; however, the agency estimated weaker winds in the storm. Throughout June 28, the low-level circulation center of the depression consolidated and its
rainband A rainband is a cloud and precipitation structure associated with an area of rainfall which is significantly elongated. Rainbands in tropical cyclones can be either stratiform or convective and are curved in shape. They consist of showers and th ...
s intensified and organized around the center. At 0300 UTC that day, the
Joint Typhoon Warning Center The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) is a joint United States Navy – United States Air Force command in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii. The JTWC is responsible for the issuing of tropical cyclone warnings in the North-West Pacific Ocean, South P ...
 (JTWC) also upgraded the system to tropical depression ''06W''. Nine hours later, the depression strengthened sufficiently to be upgraded to tropical storm intensity by JMA, giving the storm the international designation ''Rumbia''; the PAGASA followed suit three hours later. As deep
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 ...
became more centralized, a decaying
tropical upper tropospheric trough A tropical upper tropospheric trough (TUTT), also known as the mid-oceanic trough, is a trough situated in the upper-level (at about 200 hPa) tropics. Its formation is usually caused by the intrusion of energy and wind from the mid-latitudes into ...
to the north of Rumbia suppressed polar outflow from the tropical storm, thus hampering further intensification. The subtropical ridge to the northeast continued to force Rumbia towards the northwest, and by 0300 UTC on June 29, Rumbia 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
Hernani, Eastern Samar Hernani, officially the Municipality of Hernani (; ), is a municipality in the province of Eastern Samar, Philippines. According to the 2020 census, it has a population of 8,531 people. It was formerly called Nag-as, after the name of the river ...
as a tropical storm with winds of 65 km/h (40 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure estimated at 1000 mbar (hPa; 29.53 inHg). Rumbia later passed over Samar Island, and made additional landfalls on other islands in the Philippines before emerging into 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 ...
by 0300 UTC the following day; upon emergence, the tropical storm maintained the same intensity as it had at its initial landfall. Once in the South China Sea on June 30, Rumbia steadily organized, with the storm's banding features becoming more well defined around the center. However, moderate wind shear still displaced much of the convection to the southwest. Throughout the day, microwave imagery began to detect an
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 ...
developing within Rumbia, indicating strengthening. At 2100 UTC that day, the tropical storm moved out of the PAGASA's area of responsibility, and thus the agency's last warning on the system was issued at that time. A period of
rapid intensification Rapid intensification (RI) is any process wherein a tropical cyclone strengthens very dramatically in a short period of time. Tropical cyclone forecasting agencies utilize differing thresholds for designating rapid intensification events, th ...
later ensued, and at 0600 UTC on July 1, the JMA upgraded Rumbia to severe tropical storm intensity; consequently, the tropical cyclone reached its peak intensity with winds of 95 mph (60 km/h) and a minimum barometric pressure of 985 mbar (hPa; 29.09 inHg). Three hours later, the JTWC reclassified Rumbia as a typhoon, indicating a wind speed increase of 45 km/h (30 mph) in 24 hours.


Preparations


Philippines

Upon the system's formation, the PAGASA issued a public storm warning signal No. 1 at 2100 UTC on June 27 for the entirety of
Samar Samar ( ) is the third-largest and seventh-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 1,909,537 as of the 2020 census. It is located in the eastern Visayas, which are in the central Philippines. The island is divided in ...
, as well as the
Dinagat Islands Dinagat Islands ( Cebuano: ''Mga Pulo sa Dinagat''; Surigaonon: ''Mga Puyo nan Dinagat''; Kabalian: ''Mga Puyo san Dinagat''; Waray: ''Mga Purô han Dinagat''; Filipino: ''Mga Islang Dinagat''), officially the Province of Dinagat Islands, is ...
and
Siargao Island Siargao is a tear-drop shaped island in the Philippine Sea situated 196 kilometers southeast of Tacloban. It has a land area of approximately . The east coast is relatively straight with one deep inlet, Port Pilar. The coastline is marked by a s ...
. At 0900 UTC the following day, the warnings in
Visayas The Visayas ( ), or the Visayan Islands (Bisayan languages, Visayan: ''Kabisay-an'', ; Filipino language, Filipino: ''Kabisayaan'' ), are one of the three Island groups of the Philippines, principal geographical divisions of the Philippines, a ...
were extended to include the
provinces A province is an administrative division within a country or state. The term derives from the ancient Roman , which was the major territorial and administrative unit of the Roman Empire's territorial possessions outside Italy. The term ''provi ...
of
Leyte Leyte ( ) is an island in the Visayas group of islands in the Philippines. It is eighth-largest and sixth-most populous island in the Philippines, with a total population of 2,626,970 as of 2020 census. Since the accessibility of land has been ...
and
Biliran Biliran, officially the Province of Biliran (Waray language, Waray-Waray: ''Probinsya han Biliran''; ; ), is an island province in the Philippines located in the Eastern Visayas Regions of the Philippines, region (Region VIII). Biliran is one of ...
. The warnings were also expanded to include numerous provinces in
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 ...
. Later that day, all preexisting warnings in Visayas and
Mindanao Mindanao ( ) is the List of islands of the Philippines, second-largest island in the Philippines, after Luzon, and List of islands by population, seventh-most populous island in the world. Located in the southern region of the archipelago, the ...
were upgraded to signal No. 2 classification, while other areas of Visayas were issued new signal No. 1 warnings. In Luzon, the provinces of
Catanduanes Catanduanes (; ), officially the Province of Catanduanes (), is an island province located in the Bicol Region of Luzon in the Philippines. It is the 12th-largest island in the Philippines, and lies to the east of Camarines Sur, across the M ...
,
Albay Albay (IPA: ), officially the Province of Albay (; ; Baybayin, ᜎᜎᜏᜒᜄᜈ᜔ ᜈᜅ᜔ ᜀᜎ᜔ᜊᜌ᜔), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Bicol Region of the Philippines, mostly on the southeastern part of the isla ...
,
Sorsogon Sorsogon, officially the Province of Sorsogon ( Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Sorsogon''; Waray: ''Probinsya han Sorsogon''; ), is a province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region. It is the southernmost province in the island of Luzon and ...
,
Masbate Masbate, officially the Province of Masbate (Masbateño language, Masbateño: ''Probinsya san Masbate''; ), is an island Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located near the midsection of the nation's archipelago. Its provi ...
, Burias Island, and
Ticao Island Ticao Island is an island with a total land area of . It is one of the three major islands of Masbate province in the Philippines. It is separated from the Bicol Peninsula by the Ticao Pass. The other two major islands are Masbate Island () ...
were upgraded to No. 2 warnings, while the provinces of
Quezon Quezon, officially the Province of Quezon () and historically known as Tayabas, is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Calabarzon Regions of the Philippines, region on Luzon. Lucena, a highly urbanized ci ...
,
Polillo Island Polillo () is an island in the northeastern region of the Philippine archipelago. It is the largest island and the namesake of the Polillo Islands. It is separated from Luzon Island by the Polillo Strait and forms the northern side of Lamon ...
,
Camarines Norte Camarines Norte (; ), officially the Province of Camarines Norte (; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region in Luzon. Its capital is Daet, Camarines Norte, Daet, the most populous town in the ...
,
Camarines Sur Camarines Sur (; ), officially the Province of Camarines Sur (Central Bikol language, Bikol: ''Probinsya kan Habagatan na Camarines''; ), is a Provinces of the Philippines, province in the Philippines located in the Bicol Region on Luzon. Its ca ...
,
Marinduque Marinduque (; ), officially the Province of Marinduque, is an island province in the Philippines located in Southwestern Tagalog Region or Mimaropa, formerly designated as Region IV-B. Its capital is the municipality of Boac, the most popul ...
, and
Romblon Romblon (, , ), officially the Province of Romblon, is an archipelagic province of the Philippines located in the Mimaropa region. Its main components include Romblon, an archipelagic municipality of the same name that also serves as the provi ...
remained under or were issued No. 1 warnings. As Rumbia approached the coast, No. 1 warnings were expanded to include additional provinces, while No. 2 warnings generally covered the same areas up until landfall. All warnings in Mindanao were discontinued by 0300 UTC on June 29, by which time Rumbia made landfall. In
Manila Manila, officially the City of Manila, is the Capital of the Philippines, capital and second-most populous city of the Philippines after Quezon City, with a population of 1,846,513 people in 2020. Located on the eastern shore of Manila Bay on ...
, the
Metropolitan Manila Development Authority The Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA; ) is a government agency of the Philippines responsible for constituting the regional government of Metro Manila, comprising the capital city of Manila, the cities of Quezon City, Caloocan, ...
's (MMDA) Monsoon Task Force deployed 200 personnel to 11 station in the local metropolitan area to monitor flooding and traffic conditions, as well as assist in potential rescue situations. The authority also requested the dismantling of all outdoor advertisements and billboards. Army rescue trucks were also on standby in Guadalupe,
Makati Makati ( ; ), officially the City of Makati (), is a highly urbanized city in the National Capital Region of the Philippines, known for being one of the leading financial centers in the country. As of 2013, the city has the highest concent ...
. The Philippine government allocated
The Philippine peso sign (₱) is the currency symbol used for the Philippine peso, the official currency of the Philippines. The symbol resembles a Latin script, Latin letter P with two horizontal strokes. It differs from the currency symbol u ...
6.9 million in relief funds to deal with the effects of Rumbia. The
Department of Social Welfare and Development The Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD; ) is the executive department of the Philippine government responsible for the protection of the social welfare of rights of Filipinos and to promote social development. History In 1915, ...
in
Eastern Visayas Eastern Visayas (; ; ; ) is an administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region VIII. It consists of three main islands: Samar, Leyte, and Biliran. The region has six provinces: Biliran, Leyte, Northern Samar, Samar, Easte ...
activated rapid response teams and prepared 1,040 family food packs for potential delivery in disaster areas. The department also readied ₱263,920 in standby food funds and ₱1.7 million in food items, as well as ₱270,350 in standby non-food funds. The civil defense office in the province also called for the preemptive evacuation of citizens in potentially affected areas. Local disaster management units in
Caraga Caraga, officially the Caraga Administrative Region (or simply known as Caraga region) and designated as Region XIII, is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines occupying the northeastern section of Mindanao. Th ...
were activated, with 2,000 family food packs readied and a standby fund totaling ₱300,440. In total, the cost of prepositioned food packs, standby funds, food items, and other relief materials in Eastern Visayas and Caraga amounted to ₱6.9 million.


Highest Public Storm Warning Signal


Hong Kong

As Rumbia entered within 800 km of Hong Kong, the Hong Kong Observatory issued the Standby Signal, No. 1 at 21:10 HKT (13:10 UTC) on June 30 to warn the general public of the presence of the cyclone. Over the next fourteen hours, Rumbia edged closer to Hong Kong, entering within 400 km of the region at 12:00 HKT (local time) on July 1. Winds became considerably strong on
Lantau Island Lantau Island (also Lantao Island, Lan Tao or Lan Tau) is the largest island in Hong Kong, located west of Hong Kong Island and the Kowloon Peninsula, and is part of the New Territories. Administratively, most of Lantau Island is part of the ...
and on high ground, reaching sustained speeds of up to 60 km/h and gusts up to 90 km/h, prompting the Observatory to issue the Strong Wind Signal, No. 3. Rumbia continued to track northwest and stayed roughly 400 km away from Hong Kong for around thirteen hours. As Rumbia began to move away and strong winds were no longer prevalent, the Observatory issued the Standby Signal, No. 1 at 5:10 HKT on July 2. All signals were cancelled at 9:40 HKT when Rumbia no longer posed a threat.


Impact


Philippines

Due to the heavy rainfall from Rumbia in
Tacloban Tacloban ( ; ), officially the City of Tacloban (; ), is a Cities of the Philippines#Legal classification, highly urbanized city on Leyte island in the Eastern Visayas region of the Philippines. According to the 2020 census, Tacloban has a popu ...
, local officials were forced to cancel the scheduled Day of Festivals Parade. Elsewhere in Leyte, the rains began to cause widespread flooding on June 29, which also contributed to the cancellation of the event. In
Central Visayas Central Visayas (; or ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, numerically designated as Region VII. With only two Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Cebu and Bohol, as well as three Cities of the Phi ...
, Southern Luzon, Bicol,
Northern Mindanao Northern Mindanao (; Maranao language, Maranao: ''Pangotaraan Mindanao''; ) is an Regions of the Philippines, administrative region in the Philippines, designated as Region X. It comprises five Provinces of the Philippines, provinces: Bukidnon, ...
, and Eastern Visayas, the storm displaced 10,604 passengers due to the stoppage of transportation services as a result of Rumbia. Two major roadways in Eastern Visayas were blocked by soil erosion and flooding left behind by the heavy rainfall. In Bicol, the Philippine Coast Guard suspended maritime operations, resulting in the displacement of at least 2,949 passengers. A minor landslide rendered a main road impassable, but cleanup crews subsequently removed the debris. In Northern and Eastern Samar, downed wires resulted in temporary and isolated
power outage A power outage, also called a blackout, a power failure, a power blackout, a power loss, a power cut, or a power out is the complete loss of the electrical power network supply to an end user. There are many causes of power failures in an el ...
s across the two provinces.


China

Across
Zhanjiang Zhanjiang; Leizhou Min: ''Tchiàm-kōng''; previously Tsamkong or Guangzhouwan, then romanized in English as Kwangchowan or Kwangchow Wan. is a port city on the southwestern panhandle of Guangdong province in South China. The prefecture- ...
, 1.4 million people were affected by the storm. A total of 1,146 homes and 183,650 hectares of crops were destroyed, with total economic losses amounting to ¥1.17 billion (US$191 million). In
Guangxi Guangxi,; officially the Guangxi Zhuang Autonomous Region, is an Autonomous regions of China, autonomous region of the China, People's Republic of China, located in South China and bordering Vietnam (Hà Giang Province, Hà Giang, Cao Bằn ...
, preliminary assessments revealed that 13.16 million people were affected by the storm. A total of 112 buildings collapsed while 276,828 sustained varying degrees of damage. Additionally, 2,160 hectares of crops were damaged. Total economic losses from the storm reached ¥7.68 million (US$1.25 million).


See also

*
Typhoon Rammasun Typhoon Rammasun, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Glenda, was one of the only four Category 5 Tropical cyclone scales#Western Pacific, super typhoons on record in the South China Sea, with the other ones being Typhoon Pamela (1954), Pamela i ...
* Typhoon Son-Tinh (2012) *
Tropical Storm Higos (2008) Tropical Storm Higos, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Pablo, was a weak tropical storm to hit the Philippines during the 2008 Pacific typhoon season. The name "Higos" is the Chamorro word for fig. Meteorological history At 18:00&nb ...
* Typhoon Mujigae *
Tropical Storm Choi-wan (2021) Tropical Storm Choi-wan, known in the Philippines as Tropical Storm Dante, was a tropical storm which caused moderate flooding and damage in the Philippines and also affected Taiwan in late May and early June 2021. The third named storm of the 2 ...
*
Tropical Storm Nalgae (2022) Severe Tropical Storm Nalgae, known in the Philippines as Severe Tropical Storm Paeng, was a very large and deadly tropical cyclone that wreaked havoc across the Philippines and later impacted Hong Kong and Macau in late October 2022. Nalgae, m ...


Notes


References


External links


JMA General Information
of Severe Tropical Storm Rumbia (1306) from Digital Typhoon
JMA Best Track Data
of Severe Tropical Storm Rumbia (1306)
JTWC Best Track Data
of Typhoon 06W (Rumbia)
06W.RUMBIA
from the U.S. Naval Research Laboratory {{DEFAULTSORT:Rumbia (2013) 2013 Pacific typhoon season 2013 disasters in the Philippines Typhoons in the Philippines 2013 in Hong Kong 2013 in Macau Typhoons in China 2013 disasters in China Typhoons in Hong Kong Western Pacific severe tropical storms Rumbia