Typhoon Vera (1959)

Date: September 21–28, 1959

Place: Honshu Island, Japan

Result: Vera killed about 5,100 people, destroyed or damaged more than 800,000 structures, and crippled the Japanese economy for years. It was one of the deadliest typhoons in the nation’s history.

Overview

Typhoon Vera was a powerful and deadly storm that formed in the Pacific Ocean and struck the nation of Japan on September 26, 1959. Vera was classified as a super typhoon, a storm with sustained winds of more than 150 miles per hour (241 kilometers per hour)—the equivalent of a strong category 4 or category 5 hurricane in the Atlantic. Typhoons and hurricanes are the same type of rotating storm system, the only difference being they are called hurricanes when they form in the Atlantic or northeastern Pacific, and typhoons when they form in the northwestern Pacific.

The typhoon began as a low pressure system that formed near the western Pacific island of Guam on September 20, 1959. Within a day, the system had strengthened to a tropical storm—a storm with winds greater than 39 mph (63 km/h)—and was given the name Vera. Feeding on the warm Pacific waters, Vera quickly intensified into a typhoon with top wind speeds of 190 mph (306 km/h). As the storm headed north toward Japan, rain began to buffet southern coastal areas on the main island of Honshu on September 23. Vera had weakened slightly, but still packed winds of 160 mph (257 km/h) when it made landfall on the evening of September 26. In 1959, less than 30 percent of Japan’s households had televisions or telephones. Most relied on radio broadcasts for information. Because Vera’s winds knocked out much of the nation’s transmission lines, many people did not receive adequate warnings and were unaware of the danger the storm posed.

As the storm drove ashore, it created surges of seawater as high as 13 feet (4 meters) in some spots. Powerful winds funneled the storm surge through the narrow entrance to Ise Bay near the industrial city of Nagoya. The force of the water caused the area’s outdated earthen levees to fail, resulting in catastrophic flooding. More than 120 square miles (311 square kilometers) of the surrounding region was flooded, and thousands of homes were destroyed. Because of poor drainage conditions, the flood waters did not dissipate for months, resulting in deadly outbreaks of disease. The Japan Meteorological Agency would later name the storm Typhoon Isewan because of the damage it did to Ise Bay.

Vera battered Japan for six hours before it passed over the island and briefly entered the Sea of Japan. Now weakened by its encounter with land, Vera turned northeastward and again made landfall on the northern end of Honshu. It reentered the Pacific Ocean on September 27 as a category 1 storm—winds speeds of 74 to 95 mph (119 to 153 km/h)—and was soon downgraded to a tropical storm. Vera continued to move eastward until it dissipated on September 28.

Impact

Typhoon Vera caused catastrophic damage across Japan. Because of the storm’s size and track, its winds affected almost the entire nation. The area near Nagoya was buffeted by sustained winds of 90 mph (145 km/h), with gusts as strong as 160 mph. Many wooden structures were destroyed, and non-wooden structures were severely damaged. Power lines were wiped out, and roofs were torn off homes hundreds of miles inland. The storm inundated Japan with 4 to 8 inches (10 to 20.3 centimeters) of rain, causing heavy flooding and landslides in many areas.

The majority of damage was caused by the powerful storm surge that smashed into the southern coastlines. In Nagoya alone, almost 120,000 homes were destroyed, and the city’s harbor was decimated. The surge proved too strong for the area’s aging flood defenses, causing many of the earthen levees to collapse. Seawater poured into the heavily populated area and continued to flood the area for days afterward. One levee breach was about 93-miles (150-kilometers) wide. It took 5,000 workers five days and 32,000 sandbags to stem the flow of water. In total, about 834,000 structures across Japan were damaged or destroyed by Vera. About 40 percent of the damage was caused by flooding. The damage was estimated in 1959 to be at $260 million in US dollars, which translated to $2.2 billion in 2019.

The death toll from Vera was close to 5,100 people, with 4,700 confirmed fatalities and 400 people missing. An estimated 39,000 people were injured and about 1.6 million were left homeless. Most of the deaths were attributed to the storm surge and the resulting flooding. In Nagoya, the city’s harbor was so full of bodies it was called the “sea of dead.” The Japanese government, with the aid of the US military, promptly initiated rescue procedures. However, because the typhoon struck in the evening, their efforts were hampered by the darkness. The number of people killed by the storm makes Vera the second-deadliest typhoon in Japan’s history, trailing only the 1828 Nagasaki Typhoon that killed more than 15,000 people.

In 1959, Nagoya was an important industrial area in a nation still recovering from the effects of World War II (1939–1945). The destruction of the city’s harbor and industrial capabilities were a major setback for the Japanese economy. Vera also provided a devastating blow to the region’s fishing and farming industries. At the time of the storm, Japan’s farmers were preparing for the fall harvest. Vera not only wiped out much of the nation’s agricultural production but also caused widespread food shortages. Many of Japan’s roads and bridges were damaged or destroyed, and some flooded areas remained underwater for months.

In the wake of Vera, Japan’s government took action to provide humanitarian and financial aid for those who had been affected by the disaster. The storm eventually led to the passage of the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act in 1961. The legislation modernized Japan’s coastal flooding defenses and created a special council to coordinate future disaster preparedness efforts. It also established September 1 as National Disaster Prevention Day across Japan. On that day, Japanese citizens take part in disaster drills and other events meant to raise awareness of disaster prevention.

Bibliography

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“Survivor Looks to Save Images of Deadliest Typhoon to Hit Japan.” Japan Times, 17 Oct. 2014, www.japantimes.co.jp/news/2014/10/17/national/survivor-looks-save-images-deadliest-typhoon-hit-japan/#.XHfe74hKiUk. Accessed 1 Mar. 2019.