Typhoon Nina (1975)

Typhoon Nina (Bebeng)

Category 4 (Saffir–Simpson scale)
Typhoon Nina while undergoing explosive deepening on August 2
Formed	July 30, 1975
Dissipated	August 6, 1975
Highest winds	1-minute sustained: 250 km/h (155 mph)
Lowest pressure	900 hPa (mbar); 26.58 inHg
Fatalities	229,000 total (Fourth deadliest tropical cyclone on record)
Damage	$1.2 billion (1975 USD)
Areas affected	China, Taiwan
Part of the 1975 Pacific typhoon season

Typhoon Nina, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Bebeng. was the fourth-deadliest tropical cyclone on record. Approximately 229,000 people died after the Banqiao Dam collapsed and devastated areas downstream. The collapse of the dam due to heavy floods also caused a string of smaller dams to collapse, adding more damage by the typhoon.

A well defined trough line extending southeastward into the Philippine Sea spawned a disturbance on July 29. After initial status as a disturbance, Tropical Depression 04W moved southwestward for 36 hours as the structure of the system began to organize. On July 31, the depression slowed down and began to rapidly intensify to a tropical storm and was named "Nina" then it began to turn to the northwest. A subtropical ridge prevented Nina from turning further north and it began to track west-northwest just before reaching typhoon intensity.

Nina underwent explosive development on the late hours of August 1. Aircraft reconnaissance reported a 65 hPa drop of pressure on the same day as well as August 2 with wind speeds increasing from a mere 65 kn (75 mph, 120 km/h) to 130 kt (150 mph, 240 km/h) during that period and it attained its peak intensity of 135 kn (155 mph, 250 km/h) later that day. The typhoon began to weaken as it approached Taiwan, making landfall near the coastal city of Hualien as a Category 3 storm with 100 kn (115 mph, 185 km/h) winds.

The storm began to weaken as it battered across the island's central mountain range, sparing the most populated areas from the eyewall. It entered the Formosa Straits as a weak typhoon and the storm came ashore near Jinjiang, Fujian, China. After moving toward the northwest and crossing Jiangxi, it turned north on the night of August 5 near Changde, Hunan. A day later, the storm moved over Xinyang, Henan, and later was blocked by a cold front near Zhumadian, Henan for three days. The stationary thunderstorm system brought heavy rainfall, causing the infamous collapse of the Banqiao Dam. The storm moved southwest on August 8, and dissipated soon afterwards.