Category 3 Vicente Slams South China; Est. Losses $100 - $300 Million USD
24-Jul-12
Typhoon Vicente made landfall on July 23, 2015 UTC about 131 km south west of Hong Kong as a Category 3 typhoon in Taishan, Guangdong, China, with maximum sustained winds of about 120 mph. Vicente missed the Hong Kong and Macau, the two populous cities in South China. Vicente was a small storm with a radius to wind speeds of 40 to 45 kms, hence a significant portion of the wind damage was contained within the landfall region. Due to low average insurance penetration, the insured loss from this event is likely to be on the order of $100 to $300 million USD.
Vicente is the eighth named tropical storm and the fifth typhoon of the 2012 West Pacific Typhoon season. The Hong Kong Observatory (HKO) issued the "hurricane signal, No 10" for Vicente, the first since Typhoon York (1999). Vicente became a named storm on July 21 while it was churning in the South China Sea. On July 23 the storm intensified to become a Category 1 typhoon. Due to low vertical wind shear and high seas surface temperatures, conditions conducive to storm intensification, Vicente rapidly intensified near the Pearl River Delta and became a category 4 typhoon. Before making landfall Vicente weakened to a Category 3 typhoon.
Typhoon Vicente Landfall - July 24, 2012
Source: Hong Kong Observatory
Impact of Vicente
Vicente was a compact storm, hence major wind damage was sustained with the landfall regions. Hong Kong experienced sustained winds of about 58 mph and Macau experienced 55 mph from this event.
The maximum storm surge from this event was about 3.5 meters and is not likely to cause significant insured losses from storm surge. Macau reported 1 to 2 meters of storm surge and Hong Kong reported less than 1 meter of storm surge. Macau is largely built on reclaimed land and the Macau airport, which is in close proximity to the South China Sea, did not experience significant impact from this event. The event caused Denuded trees, power outages, and debris, which disrupted public transportation in Hong Kong and Macau. Low wind speeds and storm surge impact within Hong Kong and Macau are not likely to cause significant insured loss.
Total rainfall accumulated in the affected area was 300-350 mm with a rain rate of 25-35 mm/hour. Significant rainfall was reported in Macau as well.
The population of Taishan is approximately 1 million, and less densely populated when compared to cities Hong Kong and Macau. Like several cities along the eastern seaboard in China, manufacturing industries and agriculture is predominant in Taishan.
Typhoon Vicente Accumulated Rainfall - July 24, 2012
Source: Tropical Rainfall Measuring Mission (TRMM)
Using EQECAT's Built environment portfolio, the economic damage from this event is estimated to be between $600 million to $1.5 billion. The average insurance penetration in China is about 15% and this varies by region with higher percentage insurance of penetration prevailing within urbanized. The insured losses from this event are expected to be $100 to $300 million USD.
Users of EQECAT's Asia Typhoon Model are advised to use the following event IDs to ascertain the impacts on their portfolio from this event for China: 3189, 18684, 44421, 88403, 115454, and 143859.
Typhoon Vicente Event IDs - July 24, 2012
Source: EQECAT, Inc.
This is the last update for this event.
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