Another category 5 cyclone hits the Pacific

After cyclone Pam comes super typhoon Maysak - headed for the Philippines

Houses blown away after Maysak hits FSM atolls

Whole houses have been blown away on the small atoll of Fais in the northwest Pacific's Federated States of Micronesia after the super typhoon Maysak hit overnight.

Typhoon Maysak's position at 1500 UTC on Tuesday   Photo: US National Weather Service

Radio NZ

1 April, 2015

The United Services National Weather Service in Guam said neighbouring Ulithi took a direct hit with gusts of 300 kilometres an our.

The two atolls have a combined population of 1000.

Maysak is now pounding the state of Yap with 120 kilometre per hour winds.
The command post in Yap lost contact with most of the islets in the Ulithi lagoon overnight, but did speak to Mogmog islanders while they were in the eye of the storm.

Yap's Disaster Coordination Officer, Raymond Igechep, said houses were blown away in Fais, and he hopes there was no loss of life.

"They've seen houses blown off their platforms and stuff like that, the storm went very close to them and in fact in Ulithi, they went through the eye. They reported in later during the night that they experienced calmer weather and I advised them not to venture outside because that's the eye of the storm."

Raymond Igechep says Yap is experiencing very strong winds, and is hearing tin fly around outside as dawn breaks on the island.

Winds of up to 250 kilometres per hour are forecast if the supertyphoon directly hits.

Mr Igechep says the damage on Yap is already worse than last year's typhoon Hagupit, but he hopes the supertyphoon continues to turn northerly away from Yap.

"I have a feeling that we won't get up to ...160 [miles per hour] but ... a tin roof flying around outside... so, yeah, from my assistant out here who is by the window, he is figuring out that the damages sustained is a bit more bad than what we went through with Typhoon Hagupit," he said.

Raymond Igechep says he hopes to have news from the atolls of Fais and Ulithi in the next few hours.

Maysak remains Category 5 but expected to weaken

A meteorologist with the United Services National Weather Service in Guam, Ken Kleeschulpe, said he has heard neighbouring Fais sustained a lot of damage from Maysak which remains a Category 5 storm.

"Fais did not get a direct hit but they got some pretty strong winds there as well. They were close. They did have a lot of damage. Their water's contaminated and they've taken a lot of damage," said Mr Kleeschulpe.

Ken Kleeschulpe said Maysak was about 110 kilometres northeast of Yap, which was unlikely to take a direct hit, although it should be prepared for typhoon conditions.

He said the storm was expected to maintain its intensity for a couple of days but should start to weaken before it got to the Philippines.

Another forecaster, Mike Ziobro, said the main Yap islands would feel some effects of the storm which was passing to the north.

"Probably a bit further north than Yap, although they could get some strong winds there ... especially in their coastal waters, maybe some typhoon force winds. But Fais is the one that's going to get very close to them."


Typhoon Maysak.  Photo: www.wunderground.com

Churches and schools provided shelter

A disaster official in the Federated States of Micronesia state of Yap earlier said people in the path of the super typhoon Maysak had spent the night sheltering from the storm.

Raymond Igechep said people on Fais and Ulithi sought shelter in concrete buildings such as churches and schools.

"We're expecting a full, hard impact on the islands by nightfall. As far as information relayed to us, people are mobilising to the community designated typhoon shelters. So I hope they are all OK when the typhoon hits."

Raymond Igechep said there were reports of significant damage to the environment in the eastern islands of Yap state, but there had been no reports of deaths.

The governor of the state of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia, has requested a state of disaster emergency be declared for the state after it was damaged by Maysak on Sunday.


Chuuk, Federated States of Micronesia Photo: Supplied


In a letter to the FSM President, Manny Mori, Governor Johnson Elimo said there was extensive damage to infrastructure, houses, crops and commercial buildings, including on the main island, Weno.

Five people are also believed to have died in Chuuk.

Pacific Super Typhoon Maysak among strongest on record so early in the season

By Jason Samenow 

Washington Post,

31 March, 2015

Super Typhoon Maysak via satellite at 12:30 a.m. EDT March 31, 2015 (NOAA)

An unusually strong spring super typhoon is sweeping across the western Pacific, its eyes set on the northern Philippines for the second half of the coming weekend.

The super typhoon, named Maysak, packs maximum sustained winds of 160 mph. Maysak achieved super typhoon intensity with winds of at least 150 mph on Monday, while undergoing rapid strengthening. It is currently the equivalent of a category 5 hurricane.

Wide view of Super Typhoon Maysak (MTSAT)

By becoming so strong so early in the typhoon season, Maysak has set several historical milestones. In records dating back to 1945 (via Jeff Masters at Wunderground, and Weather.com):

• It is only the third known super typhoon with winds this strong prior to April 1
• It is the first time there have been two major typhoons (category 3 or higher) during the first three months of the year
• It is only the fifth super typhoon to develop prior to April 1 (the last super typhoon prior to April was Mitag in March 2002)
• Maysak is the third typhoon this year, the most so early in the year
• Maysak is fourth named storm in the western Pacific in 2015; only one other year has had more, 1965 when there were 5.
  

Sea surface temperatures were 1.8 – 3.6°F above normal in the part of the western Pacific where Maysak formed and developed, helping to fuel the storm, Masters said.

After slamming the state of Chuuk in the Federated States of Micronesia over the weekend as a category 1-equivalent storm, Maysak is battering Yap Island today, where a typhoon warning is in effect.

Maysak is forecast to proceed over the open western Pacific waters through Friday and likely approach the Philippines Saturday evening, making landfall during the day Sunday – most likely northeast of Manila.

Track forecast for Super Typhoon Maysak (Joint Typhoon Warning Center)

Due to increasingly hostile upper level winds, Maysak is forecast to gradually weaken over the next several days.  When it makes landfall, its peaks winds may have diminished to around 100 mph though the exact intensity is uncertain.  Even if Maysak’s peak winds drop below 100 mph, they will still be capable of damage while extremely heavy rain and flash flooding will be a major concern.