Typhoon Amy (1951)

Typhoon Amy

Category 4 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Surface weather analysis of Typhoon Amy near peak intensity on December 8
Formed	December 3, 1951
Dissipated	December 17, 1951
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 220 km/h (140 mph)
Lowest pressure	950 hPa (mbar); 28.05 inHg
Fatalities	569–991
Damage	$30 million (1951 USD)
Areas affected	Philippines
Part of the 1951 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Amy was an intense and deadly tropical cyclone that struck areas of the central Philippines in December 1951. Impacting the archipelago during the 1951 eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok, Amy exacerbated the effects of the volcano, greatly increasing the number of resulting deaths. The fifteenth named storm and fourteenth typhoon within the western Pacific Ocean that year, Amy developed from an area of low pressure near the Kwajalein Atoll on December 3. Tracking in a general westward direction, the storm quickly intensified to reach typhoon intensity the next day. However, the typhoon's asymmetricity resulted in a fluctuation of intensity over the following few days. Afterwards, Amy intensified to reach its peak intensity with maximum sustained winds of 220 km/h (140 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 950 mbar (hPa; 28.05 inHg) on December 8. Over the ensuing two days, Amy moved over several islands in the central Philippines before emerging in the South China Sea on December 11 as the equivalent of a minimal typhoon. Shortly after, the tropical cyclone executed a tight anticyclonic loop while oscillating in strength several times before eventually weakening and dissipating on December 17, just east of Vietnam.

Amy was considered one of the worst typhoons to strike the Philippines on record. Making its initial landfall along with the concurrent eruption of Mount Hibok-Hibok on Camiguin, the typhoon disrupted volcanic relief operations and forced the displacement of victims already displaced by the volcano. Cebu City suffered the worst impacts of Amy – most of the city's buildings were heavily damaged, and 29 people died in the city. Strong winds and rainfall in the city associated with Amy also set records which still remain unbroken today. Damage there was estimated at 560 million Philippine pesos. Along the east coast of Leyte, where Amy initially struck, ninety percent of homes were destroyed, and a large swath of coconut plantations were wiped out. In Panay, located on the western side of the Philippines, at least a thousand homes were destroyed in 41 towns. Overall, Amy caused $30 million in damage, and at least 556 fatalities, though the final death toll may have been as high as 991, making the typhoon one of the deadliest in modern Philippine history. An additional 50,000 people were displaced.