01x05 - Typhoon Alley

[bunniefuu]

WILFREDO: This is

really dangerous,

really dangerous now.

WILFREDO: The door is

trying to open itself.

JOSH (off-screen): The screaming and

whistling from this

typhoon is unbelievable.

WILFREDO: We hope and pray

that this will stop soon.

JOSH (off-screen):

The sea is nuts.

Giant waves smashing the

sea wall of the building.

(thunder and lightning).

MITCH: Hello. Mitch here,

Heritage Charters.

NARRATOR: Mitch Torres is

on the motor vessel Dorado,

shipping supplies from

Guam to its neighboring

Pacific island of Rota.

A storm is brewing.

MITCH: It's about

2:00 in the morning.

I just left the dock about 30 minutes ago.

So just about to get a

little bit more rough.

There'll be a lot of action.

We're getting about 18 to 27 knots of wind

and about 5 to 7 foot swells.

LANDON: So we are heading

into the weather office.

This is my third night shift of the week.

NARRATOR: Meteorologist

Landon Aydlett is with NOAA,

the US government weather agency.

LANDON: We've been watching

this tropical cyclone and the

forecast models for over a week now.

It could become a typhoon.

NARRATOR: Located 4000

miles west of Hawaii,

Guam is in the Northern Mariana islands.

The new storm is rising in a

region of ocean known as the

breeding ground of typhoons.

With winds now over 40 miles

an hour it's classed as a

tropical storm and given a name.

Kammuri.

(radio chatter).

MAN: Roger, casting

off all lines.

NARRATOR: In Guam's

port, Apra Harbor,

boats stand by to take evasive action.

CAPTAIN: It's 1:22am in the

morning and the wind picked up

a little bit since 6pm.

Let's go check it out.

NARRATOR: These men are among

more than 1,000 marine workers

given cameras by National Geographic

at the start of the costliest

Pacific storm season on

record, to film storms

wherever they strike,

right around the globe on

a scale never seen before.

MAN (off-screen): Got some

swells coming in from the north.

NARRATOR: Now they're caught

in the path of a k*ller

Pacific typhoon.

On the US territory of Guam,

the NOAA Weather Station

watches over the most active tropical

storm zone on the planet.

LANDON: How's it going?

Is it a typhoon yet?

WOMAN: Still in the area.

NARRATOR: Typhoon is the name

used in the Pacific for a

major cyclone, known in the

Atlantic as a hurricane.

All eyes are on the new

storm, 150 miles from Guam

and already making its presence felt.

LANDON: The sea heights

have really shot up and it's

keeping very much in line with what the

models have been forecasting.

In the last half hour

we've shot up to nearly

20 foot of seas out there.

If people are not away

from the coast right now,

they need to be, because even

when I was out there earlier,

we were looking at seas

between 10 and 12 feet.

They've almost doubled

since five hours ago.

NARRATOR: As Storm Kammuri

demonstrates its growing power,

Guam goes on standby.

JUSTIN: So I'm the man!

The captain of Leatherneck for tonight

Brad is my deckhand.

NARRATOR: Justin Reyes

is captain of crew boat Leatherneck.

JUSTIN: Well as you

can see, the flag,

the wind is coming from the east side.

NARRATOR: Large ships must

be ready to leave port

ahead of the storm.

All crew who had gone ashore

are urgently recalled.

Justin's job is to ferry

them on the Leatherneck

back to their ships.

In 10 foot swells, it's an

operation that requires a

steady nerve and some split second timing.

♪

JUSTIN: That's it

for the 2100 run

LANDON (off-screen): Definitely winds have

increased across the region

and it's going to get a

little noisy out there,

so the windows and doors

have been rattling,

and they're going to shake pretty good

when this passes over.

NARRATOR: Guam has a higher

risk of typhoon or hurricane

strike than any other US territory.

In the open ocean between the

island and its neighbor Rota,

the swell is building.

MITCH: Good morning.

It's about 6:30

now in the morning.

I'm still on the way to Rota.

It's a little bit more rough.

If I go any faster, we're

going to start taking waves

over the bow, and I don't

want that right now.

CHASE: Good morning

everybody, carry on please.

NARRATOR: On Guam,

Captain Chris Chase,

US Coast Guard sector commander,

must keep a close watch

on the looming storm.

WOMAN (off-screen): We've got a timeline

on the seas and the winds.

CHASE: The port of Guam is the lifeblood

of not only this island,

but all of the islands

throughout the region.

NARRATOR: Guam's 210 square

miles of US soil is home to a

military base of vital

strategic significance.

Restricting the potential for damage

during a storm is critical.

In the port, the last

resort is to shut down,

sending ships to seek safety at sea.

CHASE: We haven't closed

the port officially yet.

But the worst thing that could

happen is if we leave the

ships in port, and something

drastic happens and one of

them sinks at the port, that's

going to impact the ability to

get cargo in and out of the port.

WOMAN: Sector 75-3 our

operations are verifying the harbor, over.

NARRATOR: A Coast Guard

response boat assesses the

changing sea state.

On board, Chris Grimes.

GRIMES: Yeah, we just headed

outside of the harbor,

Apra harbor, where our station's located,

just to evaluate the

conditions past the break wall.

We're just looking at the

sustained winds and swell

direction and swell height.

NARRATOR: This close

to where typhoons form,

there's a constant risk of

being taken by surprise.

CHASE (off-screen): We're always

at port heavy weather condition

Whisky, so we're always within

72 hours of having a storm

impact and they happen really quickly.

So we don't get the lead time

that some of the east coast

gets which makes things a

little bit more challenging

out this way.

GRIMES: The storm's located

to the east of us right now.

We are seeing increased

size of waves and winds,

and so things could change

pretty fast as far as our

operational capabilities

over the next few hours.

NARRATOR: Storm Kammuri's

progress is presenting a

growing threat to Guam.

With its strongest winds

just 24 hours away,

the threat level at the harbor is raised

to port condition Yankee.

All ships are ordered to leave.

Shipping containers are lowered in

preparation for storm force winds.

Our cameras are with one of

the tugs escorting ships to

open waters, the Patriot,

under Captain Mike Ulloa.

MIKE: This is the last navy

ship to be departing the harbor.

All the navy ships are gone

and all the commercial ships

are departed already.

If the wind was to really, really pick up,

the boat could end up banging

up against the dock over here,

destroy the dock, you know it could

destroy the navy dock on that side.

You know this is like a

lifeline for food, supplies,

vehicles, it all comes through the harbor.

We can't have any traffic jams

so to speak because somebody

didn't depart the harbor and their ship

ended up grounded somewhere.

That would be really bad.

NARRATOR: Guam islanders

know how quickly storms can

intensify over the warm waters

of the North West Pacific into

a destructive super-typhoon.

LANDON: We do have the

bragging rights for the most

tropical cyclones in any year,

and that's just the way of

life out here.

NARRATOR: Over

the last 20 years,

the north west Pacific has

spawned 94 super typhoons,

over four times more than the

number of equally powerful

Atlantic hurricanes.

It's earned this stretch of

ocean the name Typhoon Alley

LANDON: Typhoon Alley is a

common term for this region,

primarily because we have so

many typhoons come through

this area every year.

We average 30 to 35 tropical

cyclones every year.

Come typhoon season,

like we are right now,

you have storm after storm after storm.

NARRATOR: Guam's NOAA station

is a vital look-out post for

the US Navy's facility that

tracks all Pacific typhoons.

This is the Joint Typhoon Warning

Centre in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii.

MAN: Good afternoon,

DOJ TOPS JTWC.

NARRATOR: From here, the US

Navy issues weather warnings

to its assets right across the Pacific.

MAN (off-screen): It just looks like a

shadow of the overshooting top.

NARRATOR: Our cameras are

on the watch floor with

Lieutenant Caitlin Fine,

where Kammuri is the center of attention.

CAITLIN: This is an infra-red

image here on the left that

shows tropical storm Kammuri.

Satellites are our main observation tool.

You look for areas where

convection or thunderstorms

are occurring, you look for areas where

you can already see rotation.

Then you start to look for

the beginnings of a system.

NARRATOR: One special

satellite has a vital role in

monitoring storm development

in Typhoon Alley.

Himawari 8.

LANDON (off-screen): The Himawari

satellite is the geostationary satellite

over our region and that gives

us one continuous snapshot.

So we see a beautiful frame of

weather across the whole area

and that's never interrupted.

NARRATOR: Data from the

satellite is showing that Guam

will be spared by Kammuri.

Its outer band of winds will

only graze the island as it

continues along Typhoon Alley to bear

down on a far bigger target.

The Philippines.

A country more exposed to typhoons

than anywhere in the world.

Typhoon Kammuri is now on a course

that looks all too familiar.

COAST GUARD: We're looking

for any damage to the pier,

any damage to any of the vessels.

NARRATOR: The Pacific island

of Guam has been spared the

full force of tropical storm Kammuri.

CHASE: The storm has

basically passed.

We still have winds above

30 knots in the area.

But we've got teams out

doing port assessments,

we've got boat crews

that are going to go out.

Everything we can do so we can

make sure it's safe to bring

ships back into the port and

start conducting operations

inside the ports as well.

MITCH: Good afternoon.

Mitch again.

It's about 50 miles back to Guam.

A lot of whitecaps, but not

as bad as it was this morning.

It was like way big this morning.

NARRATOR: Moving west, Kammuri

is supercharged by the warm

waters of the Pacific.

Within a day it reaches

full typhoon strength.

MAN: Right there?

That's the one.

NARRATOR: Kammuri's next destination

along Typhoon Alley seems inevitable

LANDON: Anything that

develops in our region,

a lot of times goes

towards the Philippines.

NARRATOR: 1500

miles west of Guam,

the Philippines spans the

breadth of Typhoon Alley.

A cluster of cities

around the capital Manila,

on the northern island of

Luzon is the most densely

populated region of the country.

On average, 20 major

storms enter Philippine waters every year.

ALDRIN: It's 7:30 in the morning

I will show you what we are doing.

NARRATOR: The crew of

fishing boat Ron Kirby Two

are 50 miles off Luzon's

exposed north west coast.

First mate Aldrin Apa has one

of our cameras with him for

their week-long trip.

ALDRIN: The fish are

so strong, this is hard

NARRATOR: Hauling the net

by hand takes 30 men.

ALDRIN: That's a goliath!

NARRATOR: After a week at sea,

they've hit a lucky streak.

ALDRIN: We are

getting a good catch

NARRATOR: As well as the

regular haul of mackerel,

today's catch includes some

highly valued Skipjack tuna.

MAN: We have caught enough fish.

To fill a warehouse.

PEREZ: Good morning it's the

29th of November and it's

already 5:55 in the morning

out here in the Philippines.

I'm on my way to work and I can

see one of our weather forecasters.

NARRATOR: Chris Perez is

a meteorologist with the

Philippines weather agency, PAGASA.

PEREZ: We are not yet late.

NARRATOR: Their mission is to provide

early warnings of any threats,

and Kammuri is already causing concern.

PEREZ: What we have here is a

model of the wind at the upper

level of the atmosphere.

So if this particular

sub-tropical ridge persists,

the typhoon is likely to move

westward instead of moving north.

NARRATOR: Kammuri's track

is dangerously close to the

country's capital Metro Manila,

and the densely populated center,

raising fears of a repeat of a tragedy,

that the Philippines can never forget.

2013's Typhoon Haiyan.

Haiyan's ferocious power

was captured on camera by an

American storm chaser, Josh Morgerman.

JOSH: I've been in the inner

cores of 49 hurricanes and

typhoons all over the world,

and super typhoon Haiyan was

I mean, it was just off the charts.

NARRATOR: With devastating winds

gusting at 235 miles per hour

this was one of the most

powerful typhoons ever recorded.

LANDON: Ever since super

typhoon Haiyan ravaged the

Philippines a number of years ago,

people are shell-shocked about another

typhoon hitting the Philippines.

NARRATOR: Haiyan claimed

more than 6,000 lives,

and a million homes were destroyed.

Even for this disaster prone country,

it was the worst storm ever recorded.

Typhoon Kammuri is on a

collision course with the Philippines.

Getting 150 miles closer every day.

The fishing boat Ron Kirby

2 is almost 100 miles from

Infanta, its home port.

ALDRIN: We are a long

way from the islands

NARRATOR: With good

catches and calm seas,

Aldrin and his crew head

further from shore into the

warm waters of the Philippines Sea.

MAN: It's just

explodes after this,

so that's all I'm going to go with.

NARRATOR: In Pearl Harbor,

Hawaii, for Lieutenant Fine,

the latest satellite images

of Kammuri are attracting close scrutiny.

In storms of this power,

clouds are pushed so high

above the earth, they freeze.

CAITLIN: You have warm,

moist air at the ground,

and that air rises.

As that air rises, it cools

and then condenses and then it

rises further and it rises so high

that it will actually freeze.

NARRATOR: Infrared images

captured by the US Navy show

that Kammuri has hit a new extreme.

At its cloud tops it's

164.9 degrees below zero,

the lowest temperature

ever documented on earth.

It's an ominous clue to

Typhoon Kammuri's dormant power.

JOSH: I'm driving down east

coast of the Bicol region in

the Philippines.

NARRATOR: American storm

chaser Josh Morgerman is back

in the Philippines, acting on

a hunch that Typhoon Kammuri

will turn into a monster storm.

JOSH: The Philippines Sea

has magical properties.

Any cyclone that goes into it

usually turns into a monster.

Now super typhoon Haiyan, I

didn't get inside the calm eye,

and that's the part that has

the meaningful scientific data,

that's where we measure the

air pressure and stuff like that.

In Kammuri, I'm going to get it.

I'm heading toward Tobacco

city or Legazpi City.

I'm thinking that's where the

center of typhoon Kammuri is

going to come ashore.

PEREZ: So good morning.

Today is the first day of

December and it's 7am here.

So it's a Sunday, I am

actually off duty but we are

required to report to work,

especially when we have a

tropical cyclone that is

threatening the country.

NARRATOR: Typhoon Kammuri

is expected to make landfall

tomorrow night.

Where it will hit is less certain.

PEREZ: The typhoon is expected

to move generally west,

but we're not ruling out the

possibility that the typhoon

may also move more to the

north or more to the south.

This cone of uncertainty.

JARABE: Good morning,

I am Captain Jarabe

I am getting the weather forecast

for Typhoon Kammuri

NARRATOR: Kammuri's projected

course cuts straight across

the Philippines' busiest shipping lanes.

More Filipinos are employed as seamen

than any other nationality.

JARABE: We will plot the path of the

typhoon so that we know the direction

and if we are on a safe path.

MAN: We are

monitoring the weather.

For Typhoon Kammuri.

ALDRIN: See the waves?

The weather is getting bad

NARRATOR: For Aldrin's crew,

fishing has been good.

But their boats are ill

equipped for stormy seas.

The risk of costly damage, or worse,

is now too great for them to carry on.

ALDRIN: We are heading back home

We are heading there because

the weather out at sea is getting worse

NARRATOR: Kammuri is growing.

As it moves west at over 300 miles a day,

powerful storm force winds

are being felt more than

100 miles from its center.

For the country's meteorologists,

there's no let up.

Typhoons can hit the

Philippines all year round.

PEREZ: We have monitored about 21

tropical cyclones already this year.

NARRATOR: In 2013 Typhoon

Haiyan revealed the

Philippines unique vulnerability.

In a country formed of

thousands of islands,

there's no escape from the devastating

floods that follow the wind.

LANDON: The main k*lling

feature of Haiyan was not so

much the winds but it was the storm surge.

NARRATOR: As typhoons

approach from the sea,

their powerful winds drive

a wall of water onshore.

LANDON: I think describing a

storm surge as a tsunami in a

typhoon is a fairly

good way to explain it.

Over the coming years and decades,

every inch of increased sea

level will make coastal areas

more susceptible to flooding

or large wave events.

ALDRIN: I'm very

happy to be home

I have not been home for a long time

NARRATOR: When a

typhoon threatens,

all fishing boats are ordered

to report to their home port.

PEREZ: In Infanta, Aldrin must

register Ron Kirby 2 and find

a safe mooring to weather the storm.

MAN: What time are you leaving?

ALDRIN: 12:30 sir.

NARRATOR: PAGASA is in a race

to warn the public about an

impact that now seems inevitable.

PEREZ: Over these past 12 or

24 hours it has moved faster

than we have anticipated, and

as of the weather bulletin

this morning, we expect this

one to cause significant or

catastrophic damage.

MAN: Nice day.

NARRATOR: In an area

they call Typhoon Alley,

as a new storm builds in menace,

cameras supplied by National

Geographic to weather experts

and marine workers, capture

the countdown to impact.

MAN: It is good.

Most of the boats

have been taken away from shore.

The residents look prepared.

NARRATOR: In the Philippines,

coast guards clear the beaches

as all maritime activity is suspended.

The biggest typhoon of the

year is due to strike tonight.

PEREZ: In some parts of the Becol region

and Andora area and some parts of Samar.

NARRATOR: As with all

typhoons to hit the country,

Kammuri is given a Filipino name, Tisoy.

At PAGASA data from satellites

is a valuable tool in their

efforts to issue the most

accurate weather warnings,

but on its own, it's not enough.

ELLA: We can't get the full

intensity of the typhoon based

alone on satellite images.

This is just one portion of

everything that is happening

because you know forecasting

is still forecasting,

it's not 100% science.

WILFREDO: We are going now to

the coastal community

of Tabaco City

NARRATOR: Willy Tuazon is one

of PAGASA's specialist team

of storm observers.

Their unique role is to get as

close to a typhoon as possible

to gather live data.

WILFREDO: So we are here

in the port area of Tabaco

NARRATOR: It's a vital job

that carries a big risk.

WILFREDO: The wind is gusting

at 50 kilometers per hour

NARRATOR: While

observing Typhoon Haiyan,

one of the team lost their life.

Kammuri is now just 150

miles from the coast,

and growing in strength.

As its wind speeds increase

to 105 miles per hour,

it hits typhoon category two,

and Kammuri is showing signs

that it will go on growing.

ELLA: As of 0600 UTC or 2pm

here Philippine time

it just formed its eye

NARRATOR: The eye is a

clearing at the center of the

storm's vortex, and the seat of its power.

ELLA: When a typhoon

develops an eye.

It intensifies.

NARRATOR: Kammuri is

becoming a monster.

Its powerful storm force winds

stretch 100 miles in every

direction from its 30 mile wide eye.

The storm is expected to

slam into southern Luzon,

threatening the cities

of Legazpi and Tabaco.

WILFREDO: So we are

here in City Hall of Tabaco

We are going to the rooftop

NARRATOR: Willy's chosen a

vantage point on the City Hall

for a clear view of

the typhoon's approach.

WILFREDO: Typhoon

Tisoy will enter here

NARRATOR: The destructive

potential of category two

storms is ten times greater

than at low category one.

As the outer bands of winds arrive,

a siren warns the city of

Tabaco to prepare for the worst.

WILFREDO: Now the wind

sensor is ready for Tisoy.

NARRATOR: Impact is expected

in just three hours.

ELLA: Everyone here

in the operation,

we thought that this one will weaken,

but then we're all wrong, it strengthened.

ALDRIN: The typhoon is

strong so make sure

to be ready and alert tonight

NARRATOR: The Ron Kirby 2's

home port of Infanta is in the

path of the typhoon's vast wind field.

First mate, Aldrin's priority

is to make the boat secure.

ALDRIN: We need

to take the things that are

small and prone to damage

NARRATOR: In typhoon Haiyan,

thousands of fishermen lost

their livelihoods when

their boats were destroyed.

If the boat is left unmanned,

there's a risk that it will

tear loose of its mooring.

Aldrin needs a member of

his crew to stay aboard,

to keep it secure.

ALDRIN: See that red light?

That means its recording.

CHRISTOPHER: So

it's filming now?

My name is Christopher de la Cruz

The time is now 6:10pm

NARRATOR: The

youngest crew member,

Christopher is already

an old hand at the job.

CHRISTOPHER: I have already

experienced many typhoons

Despite the heavy rains

I don't get very nervous anymore

You need to be alert in every typhoon

and aware of what is happening around you

During Typhoon Yolanda

our boat lost its mooring rope

so I had to dive in and swim for it

NARRATOR: Christopher will

stay with the boat to weather

the storm and to keep our camera with him,

while Aldrin must look after his family,

sole responsibility for the Ron

Kirby 2 rests with Christopher.

MAN: Good evening everyone

We need to let you know

that we are on a storm signal number two

and the landfall will happen tonight

MAN: We need to evacuate.

Especially those who live by the sea

PEREZ: We had some of our

radar meteorologists analyze

the recent image and it shows

that the northern part of Samar

is just about 40 kilometers away

from the eyewall of the storm.

Now, the eyewall's the

area with the most rains,

heaviest rains and the strongest wind.

And we are expecting

more rains to pour in,

as this typhoon moves west.

We expect really some

damage over that area.

NARRATOR: The Philippines

most populated region is

being prepared for the worst.

PEREZ: We already have a storm

signal number two over Metro Manila

and we're expecting a higher

warning signal to be hoisted,

not only over Metro Manila,

but in the neighboring provinces as well.

NARRATOR: Storm chaser,

Josh Morgerman,

has arrived at the city of Legazpi.

JOSH (off-screen): Legazpi City

just before nightfall.

Typhoon Kammuri is coming in

this direction and this place

is gonna get hit hard.

NARRATOR: In the Philippines,

the biggest typhoon of the

season is hours from impact.

The National Weather Agency, PAGASA,

is on an emergency footing.

PEREZ: I've been working

for about 24 hours already.

I am planning to stay here until tomorrow.

We need to show that we have enough

working bodies here at the office.

NARRATOR: Drawing up energy

from an area of extremely warm

ocean, Kammuri is about to

become more powerful than any

storm to hit the Philippines this year.

Just hours from striking

land with Tabaco City and

Legazpi City firmly in its cross hairs,

it leaps in strength to category three.

CHAD: And this is going

to be a 205 kph storm

as it goes over Legazpi City.

JOSH (off-screen):

Legazpi City, 7:25 pm.

The wind is absolutely

pounding this hotel.

When I'm storm chasing,

there's two things I need from a hotel.

One is that it's a good location,

so I can observe the storm

and the other is that it's not

gonna come crashing down

at the height of the storm.

The typhoon is probably

another hour or two away,

the inner core, but I think

this one's gonna be really,

really serious.

Gonna go outside, take a look.

WILFREDO: It's 8:30pm

The wind is getting stronger

It's getting angry

NARRATOR: In Tabaco City,

Willie's observation team

records gusts of 150 miles per hour.

WILFREDO: The atmospheric

pressure is still going down.

ROBB: Oh, our emergency

broadcast has sounded.

They issued a red rainfall

warning over the provinces who

are in the eyewall just here.

PEREZ: Most of us are very worried

about the possible casualties.

NARRATOR: As Kammuri

pummels the town,

phone contact with PAGASA HQ is lost.

WILFREDO: Everything

is moving inside this building

The door is trying to open itself

We don't know what is happening outside

(crashing).

WILFREDO: That is

the sound of a roof

We hope and pray that this will stop soon.

JOSH: The sea is nuts.

Giant waves smashing the

sea wall and the building.

NARRATOR: In the darkness,

a ten foot storm surge smashes ashore.

Kammuri has made another leap in strength.

With wind speeds now

at 130 miles per hour,

it hits category four.

In the past 24 hours, its

damage potential has become

100 times greater.

JOSH: It is going nuts now,

flying debris everywhere.

It's just really dangerous.

The wind screaming and whistling

from this typhoon is unbelievable

NARRATOR: With gusts

over 150 miles per hour,

even the most solidly

constructed buildings in

Legazpi are now under as*ault.

MAN: Okay, come

on, quick, quick.

(rattling).

JOSH: And then all of a sudden,

you hear it start to die down.

That means, mission accomplished.

JOSH (off-screen): We're in

the eye of typhoon Kammuri.

Even though the winds have

died down, the ocean is nuts.

You can feel the walls rattling,

there's waves smashing into the building.

The crazy thing is, we're only

halfway through the storm

and I know the backside, those

winds on the other side of the

storm are gonna come

rushing in in at any minute,

like a sledgehammer.

JOSH (off-screen): And

we're back in the typhoon.

We're going into the eyewall

at the back side of it.

NARRATOR: The eye of the storm

is encircled by the eyewall,

a band of Kammuri's most powerful winds.

JOSH (off-screen): We've now lost power,

the generators are out and

we're in the, we're deep in

the eyewall of this nasty

typhoon in the dark.

Folks look concerned.

NARRATOR: As the storm

moves over Legazpi,

its vast wind fields draw

closer to fishing boat,

Ron Kirby 2.

CHRISTOPHER: 4:58.

CHRISTOPHER: We are starting

to feel Typhoon Tisoy.

It's raining hard now and very windy.

WILFREDO: It's 6am,

December 3 and

this is what

Tabaco looks like.

After Typhoon Kammuri

NARRATOR: Category four

typhoon Kammuri has been

blasting a path across the Philippines.

The city of Legazpi bore the full impact

of the storm's eyewall.

After four hours of violent winds

that topped 130 miles per hour,

the city awakes to a trail of destruction

and the most damaging

effects are still to come.

As the storm surge recedes,

flood waters from a foot of rainfall

are swamping the town.

REPORTER: A typhoon Kammuri is ripping

across southeastern Luzan.

WEATHERMAN: Largest storm on

our planet right now making

its way through the areas of the

central provinces of the Philippines.

NARRATOR: Kammuri is

far from finished.

The Philippines is a mass of islands,

allowing typhoons an endless

supply of the warm ocean water

that fuels them.

Rather than losing energy when

they pass over land, here,

typhoons can recharge

and grow more powerful.

MAN: I am here at my home.

We cannot go out

NARRATOR: Now, it's Infanta's

turn to be lashed by

120 mile per hour winds.

MAN: The wind and

rain are very strong

NARRATOR: While fishermen are

locked down in their homes.

Aboard the Ron Kirby 2,

18 year old, Christopher,

has one of our cameras running.

CHRISTOPHER: I'll show you

what is happening outside

NARRATOR: Christopher

is under orders to make sure

the boat, on which the

livelihoods of the entire crew

depend isn't torn from its

moorings during the storm.

CHRISTOPHER: Hi team.

Time now is 1100

Now it's really getting very strong

NARRATOR: Drawing force from the

inland seas, Kammuri is still

a category three typhoon.

And getting closer by the hour.

170 miles south, Willie's

observation team is moving

out of Tabaco City.

To start their assessment

of the storm's impact,

they head to the place that

bore the brunt of its power.

WILFREDO: We are

going to a coastal

community in Sorsogon.

NARRATOR: This beach was

Ground Zero for Kammuri in the

Philippines, the point of first impact.

(speaking native language).

NARRATOR: The sea defenses

were no match for its category

four winds and the ten foot

wall of water forced onshore.

WILFREDO: Were you here

during the typhoon?

MAN: Yes.

Water was all over this here

MAN: I've never experienced

anything like this before

NARRATOR: At PAGASA, reports

from across the country start

to reveal Kammuri's impact

on the Philippines and most

important of all, the cost in lives.

PEREZ: The thing that we're

looking for is the zero

casualty scenario and that

would be probably one of the

greatest rewards that we can

ever here in PAGASA, you know,

like achieve a zero casualty status.

NARRATOR: The team has been on

24-7 storm watch, but finally,

the end is in sight.

PEREZ: We have here the latest

animation showing that Tisoy

is expected to exit the

country tomorrow early morning.

NARRATOR: Kammuri's as*ault on the

Philippines lasted 36 hours.

The 20th and most powerful

typhoon to enter

Philippine waters this year.

It claimed 17 lives.

Fisherman Aldrin, is heading to Infanta.

He and his crew are eager

to get back to work,

so long as their boat and

youngest crewman survived.

CHRISTOPHER: Hi everyone. Let us start by

greeting you to a pleasant morning

and to all God gave us

So, finally the coast guard gave us

clearance to go back to

the sea and do our job

ALDRIN: We'll be

leaving at 12:30

JOSH (off-screen): The Philippines is

by far, absolutely

the world's hot spot for

violent tropical cyclones,

it's unlike anywhere else.

But for these folks living

here, unfortunately,

they know that before they're

even done cleaning up after

this one, another one's coming.