Super Typhoon Patsy (international designation:
7025,
JTWC designation:
27W,
PAGASA name:
Super Typhoon Yoling) was the
twenty-seventh named storm, twelfth typhoon, and seventh
super typhoon of the
1970 Pacific typhoon
season.
November 14, 1970 brought sufficient organization for a tropical
disturbance to be designated a tropical depression. A steady
intensification carried Tropical Storm Patsy's windspeeds up to
155 mph (250 km/h) and a pressure of 918 mbar.
It made
landfall in Luzon
with
130 mph (210 km/h) sustained wind speeds on November
19. After emerging in the South China Sea
, Patsy remained at tropical storm strength.
It struck
Vietnam
during its Civil War as
a weak tropical storm on November 22. The 8-day-old cyclone
dissipated shortly after its final landfall.
US$80 million ($403 million in 2005) in damage was
reported to have been caused by Patsy, though the total was likely
higher. Deaths were officially reported to be 241, but an estimated
30 people unofficially died in Vietnam, raising the toll to
271+. And additional 351 people were reported missing. The
total deaths and damage will likely be never known, as the
Vietnam War was raging on at the same
time.
Meteorological history
A tropical
disturbance was spotted south-southeast of Wake Island
on November 10 and moved west. Warm waters and
weakened shear allowed the storm to organize into Tropical
Depression 27W on November 14 near the Marianas Islands
. A strong ridge to its north forced it
westward, where it strengthened to tropical storm status later on
November 14, receiving the name Patsy.
When Patsy
was just barely above the threshold of tropical storm-strength, it
slowed down and passed just north of Saipan
.
Patsy
continued to steadily intensify, reaching typhoon strength on
November 16, 200 miles (322 km)
northwest of Guam
. The
tropical cyclone and peaking at 155 mph (250 km/h) on
November 18.
Its inflow became disrupted by the Philippines to its west, and
Patsy hit Luzon on November 19 with winds of 130 mph
(210 km/h), making it the 3rd strong typhoon to strike the
island since September.
After crossing the island and weakening to a
Category 2, Patsy traversed the South China Sea, where cooler waters kept the system from
strengthening. This caused the cyclone to continue a
weakening trend until it was downgraded to a tropical storm on
November 20. On November 22, Patsy struck Vietnam as a 45 mph
(70 km/h) tropical storm, and dissipated soon after.
Impact
Deaths caused by Patsy reached 262 people, injured 1,756, and
another 351 people were missing. Damage totals came in at
US$80 million (US$403 million
in 2005), mostly in the Philippines.
Philippines
Typhoon Patsy was one of the deadliest typhoons to strike the
Philippines in its history. 106 people were killed (with 351
other missing) on the island, and 135 people were killed at
sea from shipping failures.
The USS
President Taft was separated from its anchorage and
collided with the Alikimon, a
Greek vessel, while in Manila
Bay
. Another two ships were blown ashore in the
Bay. On land, 31,380 of the refugees' homes were either destroyed
or damaged.
Vietnam
In the South China sea off Vietnam's coast on November 2, an
American ship,
LCU-1563, was fighting in
the Vietnam War. It got caught in the bad weather from Patsy and
capsized. At 10 am local time the next day, the ship was found and
hauled ashore. All eleven men onboard perished. One man was
discovered dead near
Cu Lao Island on
November 6. Drowning was the cause of his death. Nine of the men
were never discovered, but were considered to have died of
drowning. The men were all posthumously promoted to a higher rank
and families of the dead received a higher level pension. Seven
years later on March 16, 1977, another body was recovered. In
addition, two gunboats from the former country of
South Vietnam sank the same day to the south
of LCU-1563's resting place. Death totals from them are not
available.
Lack of retirement
Despite the large amount of damage, the name
Patsy
was not retired and was used again in 1973 and 1977. In 1979, a new
list of names was created, and Patsy was not on the new list.
Records
Patsy was
the deadliest tropical cyclone to strike Manila
since the
establishment of the
Philippine Weather Bureau in 1865 until the 2009 strike of
Tropical Storm Ketsane (Pagasa Codename "Ondoy")..
See also
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