Typhoon Haikui was the third tropical cyclone in the span of a week to impact Mainland China during late July and early August 2012. The name Haikui, which replaces Longwang, means sea anemone in Chinese.
Meteorological history
Late on July 31, a tropical disturbance formed within a large monsoon trough. On August 1, the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA) mentioned the system as a tropical depression southeast of Iwo Jima, and the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) issued a Tropical Cyclone Formation Alert late on the same day. Late on August 2, the JTWC upgraded it to a tropical depression, before the JMA upgraded the system to a tropical storm and named it Haikui early on the next day. Early on August 4, the JTWC upgraded Haikui to a tropical storm. On August 5, the JMA upgraded Haikui to a severe tropical storm when it was located north-northeast of Kume Island. The JTWC upgraded Haikui to a category 1 typhoon Late on August 6, as it developed an eye. At 12Z on August 7, the JMA upgraded Haikui to a typhoon, but the JTWC downgraded it to a tropical storm simultaneously. Later, Typhoon Haikui made landfall over Xiangshan County in Zhejiang, China at 19:20 UTC (03:20 CST on August 8).
Preparations and impact
Philippines
Although located hundreds of kilometres away from the Philippines, the southerly flow from Typhoon Haikui enhanced the southwest monsoon across much of Luzon. As a result, widespread heavy rains impacted regions still recovering from deadly floods triggered by Typhoon Saola less than a week earlier. During a 72‑hour span from 6–8 August, of rain fell in parts of Metro Manila, leading local media to compare the event to Typhoon Ketsana in 2009, which killed 464 in the city. Some of the most severe flooding took place along the Marikina River, which swelled to near-record levels. During the afternoon of 7 August, the river reached a height of , well beyond the flood level of and about below the record level set during Typhoon Ketsana. About 70 percent of Metro Manila were affected by flooding. Some areas were submerged in up to . Due to the expanding floods, officials in the city evacuated more than 23,000 residents from flood-prone areas and relocated them to shelters set up across the area. According to a reporter from the British Broadcasting Corporation, many residents were reluctant to leave their belongings behind, and some traveled back through flood waters to retrieve their belongings. Officials feared the flooding could worsen as the La Mesa Dam continued to overflow by then. At least nine people were killed and four others were injured in a landslide in Quezon City.
Numerous schools in Metro Manila, Central Luzon, and Calabarzon had suspended classes. As a precautionary measure, officials cut power to some areas of National Capital Region (NCR). At least 250,000 people left their homes as flooding covered more than a third of the city. The head of the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) compared the deluge to the Kevin Costner film Waterworld.
In response to the flooding, the NDRRMC allocated approximately worth of relief funds and deployed 202 personnel to assist in search and rescue missions. The search and rescue missions were hampered by strong currents in flooded streets. Philippine President Benigno Aquino ordered officials to maximize the effort on rescuing and aiding affected residents.
On 8 August, more than 1 million families were already affected. The NCR and nine nearby provinces were already placed under a state of calamity, with some areas were flooded up to 2 storeys. 90 percent of Metro Manila were already submerged in flooding. Communications were affected badly, though distress calls and SMS from thousands of Metro Manila residents and their worried relatives flooded television and radio stations as most power and water connections were lost. Red warning was already downed to yellow during morning but turned back into red warning during afternoon after another set of continuous heavy rain falls again in Metro Manila until midnight of August 9, 2012. Some schools extended their suspension of classes until Saturday. Airports also had severe flooding, forcing some flights to land at Clark International Airport in Pampanga and other airports nationwide or altogether rebooking.
Throughout the Philippines, a total of 112 people have been confirmed dead and 14 people were injured. In terms of damage, a total of 14,280 homes were damaged, of which 3,871 were totally destroyed. Economic losses were totalled at ₱3.18 billion (US$76.3 million), in which most of them were agricultural loss.