POLLY

History

Severe Tropical Cyclone Polly, known as Isang in the Philippines, developed from a tropical disturbance west of Rota on 23 August 1992. The Joint Typhoon Warning Center began monitoring the system on the same day, issuing a formation alert on 24 August. The storm intensified steadily, reaching its peak intensity on 29 August with one-minute sustained winds of around 95 km/h and a minimum central pressure of 975 hPa. Polly made its first landfall near Hualien County, Taiwan, on 30 August as a tropical storm before crossing into Fujian, China, on 31 August as a weakening system.

Despite its relatively modest peak intensity, Polly produced catastrophic impacts across a wide area. In China, the storm caused severe storm surges and flooding across Fujian, Zhejiang, Jiangsu, Shandong, Hebei, Tianjin, and Liaoning, with total losses estimated at approximately USD 1.3 billion. Zhejiang alone recorded 157 deaths and extensive infrastructure destruction. At least 31 people died in Shandong and 220 fatalities were recorded across China overall. In the Philippines, mudflows triggered by heavy rain buried around 7,000 homes and killed nine people. Eight people died in Taiwan, where damage reached roughly USD 72.6 million. Japan experienced landslides and minor infrastructure damage but no fatalities. Polly ranked as the deadliest and costliest tropical storm of the 1992 Pacific typhoon season.

Sources: Bureau of Meteorology report Wikipedia