Typhoon Nalgae

Typhoon Nalgae

Typhoon Nalgae, known in the Philippines as Quiel, was headed for the archipelago on September 30, 2011. Residents braced for winds and floods in the wake of Typhoon Nesat, which passed over the same region days earlier.

The Moderate Resolution Imaging Spectroradiometer (MODIS) on NASA’s Terra satellite captured this natural-color image of Nalgae, just east of the Philippines, on September 30, 2011.

On September 30, the U.S. Navy’s Joint Typhoon Warning Center reported that Nalgae had maximum sustained winds of 115 knots (210 kilometers per hour) and gusts up to 140 knots (260 kilometers per hour). Located roughly 320 nautical miles (590 kilometers) northeast of Manila, the storm was moving west.

On September 30, Agence France-Presse reported that Typhoon Nesat, which preceded Nalgae, had already killed 43 people and left 30 more missing, while forcing 160,000 residents into state-run evacuation camps. As Nalgae approached, The Manila Bulletin reported that authorities advised residents of low-lying and mountainous areas to watch out for potential floods and landslides.

NASA image courtesy Jeff Schmaltz, MODIS Rapid Response Team at NASA GSFC. Caption by Michon Scott.

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