Typhoon Wendai in 1956

Especially in 24, Yunna's beautiful name brought a terrible disaster, and young Zhejiang people regarded Yunna as the only one. However, only the older generation can remember that before Yunna, a dead king had been waiting silently in heaven for fifty years. She will continue to wait until people remember it again, or forget it completely ... Like Yunna, she also has a very beautiful name, but the murder hidden behind beauty makes Yunna far behind.

it is typhoon 5612, WANDA, whose Chinese translation is Wen Dai. The older generation called her "Typhoon August 1st". On July 26, 1956, a huge low-pressure area began to brew near the Mariana Islands and moved northward. There were cloudy days in Guam. There are indications that a monster is about to be born. At that time, JTWC had not yet been established, and the task of typhoon detection and forecast in the northwest Pacific was jointly undertaken by the US Air Force and the Navy. However, the air force did not immediately send a plane to detect it. It was not until March 28th, three days later, that the hurricane hunter took off and flew to the pile of clouds not far from home. The probe plane came with a wind speed of 1KT-a typhoon of level 3. The US Air Force was shocked and hurriedly upgraded its number, so WANDA was born. At the same time, her number in NMC is 5612 ... At this time, the subtropical high strongly extended to the west and lifted to the north. Under its guidance, WANDA moved steadily to the northwest and began her journey.

Good divergence, weak vertical wind shear and good water temperature-what could be more suitable for a TC than these three gifts? WANDA didn't live up to it, and began to increase steadily, and the intensity of each broadcast was improved. Just half a day after the numbering, the aircraft of the US Air Force detected the wind force of 12KT, and the Air Force immediately upgraded it to a category 4 typhoon. On the 29th, WANDA didn't feel tired at all. After it increased by 1KT in 6 hours and reached 145KT, it finally became the second category 5 typhoon of that year-it won the title that any tropical cyclone would be proud of. After another 18 hours, WANDA finally reached the peak of its life. The US Air Force detected the air pressure of 92HPA and gave it a high evaluation of 16KT. And NMC also designated it as a strong typhoon with a speed of 9M/S-even in that crazy era, NMC's speed of 9M/S was rare. Since then, the environment has not allowed WANDA to continue to strengthen, but WANDA is still stable at around 15KT.

at the same time of strengthening, WANDA does not forget to expand its size. The huge volume in the tropical depression era laid a good foundation for WANDA. All the way west, good high-altitude divergence made Wanda's volume more and more huge. At the same time, when she became a category 4 typhoon, her tenth-level wind circle radius actually reached 335KM, the eighth-level wind circle radius was 55KM, the whole wind circle radius reached 7KM, and the circulation diameter was about 2KM! Meteorological records show that although the shortest distance between WANDA and Okinawa is more than 3KM, Naha still recorded a gust of 75KT ... This is a perfect tropical cyclone, yes, WANDA is perfect. It's just a pity that no satellite was launched at that time. Today we can't see WANDA's charm, but the weather map drawn by the meteorological agency can be shocking. A tropical cyclone has two dreams in its life: strength and destruction. The former is amazing, while the latter is frightening. Although the three numbers of 16KT, 2KM and 92HPA still can't become chinese odyssey, WANDA doesn't have to feel sad about it, because it is enough, because the subtropical high at the end of July 1956 can help her realize another dream. The miracle was born at this moment-on July 29th, a westerly trough suddenly developed near 11E. Due to the upstream and downstream effects of the westerly trough, the subtropical high greatly strengthened its northward lift, and controlled the northern and southern parts of China, with its center located in the sea of Japan. In this way, the original offshore steering forecast of Shanghai Meteorological Observatory will no longer be established-it is almost certain that WANDA will land on the coast of China under the guidance of the strong subtropical high located in the north

The strong subtropical high guided the powerful WANDA, and in a rare way, it began to destroy the whole Taiwan Province, which was affected by its huge wind circle. It was stormy in Taipei. From July 31 to August 2, 1956, the rainfall in Taipei reached 297.3MM, reaching 19MM on the 31st, knowing that WANDA was more than 5 kilometers away from Taipei on the 31st! The maximum wind speed in Keelung is 29M/S, which shows the size of WANDA wind circle. The disaster in the north is particularly serious. The water level of Danshui River soared, exceeding the warning water level by 1.7 meters, and many low-lying areas near Taipei City were flooded. Finally, WANDA took the lives of 17 people and injured 15 others in Taiwan Province. Nearly 5 houses were damaged to varying degrees ... For Taiwan Province, it was a moderate typhoon.

of course, this is just the beginning.

this monster has attracted NMC's attention from the beginning. In that era when there were no satellites, it became one of the important means for NMC to detect TC in the West Pacific by using weather balloons. Every time the data comes, the atmosphere in the NMC forecast room becomes more and more dignified-yes, they know that a miracle is coming and they have to face a super typhoon. NMC did not dare to neglect it. On the 3th (that is, the day WANDA entered the 48-hour warning line of NMC), it released the news of strong typhoon, and conveyed it to local grass-roots meteorological departments. The Zhejiang Meteorological Observatory issued a strong typhoon warning earlier. Experts have a hunch that this god of destruction with a beautiful name is likely to pounce on Zhejiang, maybe Wenzhou, maybe Taizhou, maybe Xiangshan County, which belonged to Zhoushan area at that time ...

There was a special ideology in a special era. In 1956, three major transformations were basically completed in China. People who are enthusiastic and enterprising are enjoying the taste of being masters of the country with joy. The thinking that man can conquer nature is deeply rooted in almost everyone's brain. However, in that era when even the radio became a luxury, how many people could really know the arrival of the typhoon? In addition to provincial and district leaders, perhaps only village cadres. Two days before the typhoon came, village cadres in villages in Xiangshan County began to do everything possible to mobilize villagers to prepare for typhoon prevention. The small blackboard at the entrance of the village said, "There may be a typhoon of magnitude 12 landing in Xiangshan Port." But how can villagers who are used to typhoons take it to heart? In the first half of 1956, Xiangshan experienced a rare drought, and the whole July was unbearable. How could there be any typhoon? At the moment, it is the harvest season, and people are immersed in the joy of harvest in the year of drought. More people regard WANDA as an ordinary 12-level typhoon, rather than a devil carrying a 17-level gale. In Nanzhuang Plain at the eastern end of Xiangshan Peninsula, people still live a simple and fulfilling life in the past. They believe that the seawall in front of the door can defend their Nanzhuang Plain-their home. Even some people are still telling books in the corner of the village, while people listening to books are laughing constantly. Everything is so calm.

On August 1st, WANDA crossed the Ryukyu Islands, entered the East China Sea, and also entered the 24-hour warning line of NMC, and the traveling direction changed from 29 degrees to 31 degrees. Due to the good environment, WANDA still maintains its strength of 14KT at this time-Wanda has become one of the slowest giant TC before landing in China. At this moment, the title of the warm pool in the northwest Pacific Ocean has been verified again, so it can be imagined that the water temperature in the East China Sea at that time ... When the cicada strengthened to 15KT in the East China Sea 47 years later and turned away, everyone was shocked in a cold sweat and was scared to death-fortunately, the timely strike of the westerly trough made Zhejiang escape. But in 1956, Zhejiang people were not so lucky ...

From this morning, a huge wind circle began to touch the coast of Zhejiang. Run Ma Yun flies rapidly from northeast to southwest. Because of the huge circulation, some fishermen realized what was about to happen according to their rich experience, and immediately drove their fishing boats without radios and radios back to the harbor-this saved most fishermen at sea and prevented the tragedy of Lv Siyang in 1959 from being staged three years ahead of schedule. Wind and rain began to appear along the coast of Zhejiang. But even on the morning of August 1st, Xiangshan Peninsula, which is in the most dangerous area and has been windy, still didn't wake up. Rats fled, ran Ma Yun, fish floated and rolled, and the unusually dazzling sunlight ... Nature has begun to remind people, but people still didn't realize that great danger was coming. In the field, the cadres and the masses enthusiastically grabbed the grain before the typhoon came according to the orders of their superiors. Yes, the bumper harvest in the drought year really made people unable to give up, but people's subconscious enthusiasm and pride in that era blinded their eyes.

WANDA is furious!

From noon on August 1st, the wind force along the coast of Zhejiang gradually increased to over 9, and WANDA began a real performance. The circulation enveloped the whole of Zhejiang. As predicted, the strong subtropical high center is still hovering over the sea of Japan, but WANDA's huge volume makes the subtropical high ridge field move further northward, causing WANDA's path to deviate slightly to the north again (from 31 degrees to 32 degrees). It is this slight northward movement that makes northern Zhejiang, especially Xiangshan Peninsula, face unprecedented danger.

after 4 pm, the coastal areas of Zhejiang successively entered WANDA's storm circle. In the evening, the pouring rain falls like a waterfall on the whole land of Zhejiang. The wind, mixed with rain, roared through the hills and plains, destroying everything it could move; The raindrops flew almost parallel to the ground, blinding people. There are huge waves on the seashore, and the dams along the coast are washed away without tiredness ... On the Nanzhuang Plain in Xiangshan County, people listening to books at the village entrance wanted to hide under the eaves at first, but the subsequent scenes made people feel extremely scared-not only the wind and rain, but also the rushing tide! People were stunned to find that the tunnel in front of the house was full of water at their feet, and the water level was getting higher and higher, flooding into the house, and everything in the house was soaked in seawater. The tide keeps rising, but in the dark night, I see a piece of Zeguo. From time to time, the sound of houses being washed down comes, and the wind adds fuel to the flames, and the blown tiles are flying in the air ... The sea does not care for Nanzhuang people again at this moment, but treats its kind villagers in a cruel way. People clearly remember that today is the 25th day of June in the lunar calendar. When the tide rises to the middle of the beach, it will not rise. How can there be such a big tide? Did the seawall they trusted in front of the door fail to withstand the typhoon and collapse? People are frantically looking for their relatives and fleeing from their homes that are about to be knocked down by the tide. At midnight, the cries were loud, and the sound of wind and rain echoed on the vast Nanzhuang Plain.

What they don't know is that at this time, countless cadres, the People's Liberation Army and some people are desperately rushing to the front of the beach. Under the guidance of the thought that man can conquer nature, and under the death order of the superior headquarters, they took the lead and fought WANDA at the seaside without hesitation for the lives of countless ordinary people in the plain. However, it turns out that this is stupid and futile, and force of nature is irresistible. The relentless waves swept nearly a thousand cadres and masses away from the seawall and never came back ...

At 24 o'clock on August 1st, 1956 (about 2 am on August 2nd), Typhoon WANDA 5612 landed in Nanzhuang, Xiangshan County, Zhoushan Special Zone, Zhejiang Province. When landing, the central air pressure was 923HPA and the wind speed was 6-65 m/s. The US Air Force gave her an evaluation of 13KT when landing-this is the only TC that landed in Zhejiang at STY level since the founding of the People's Republic of China. At the same time, she is also the strongest TC who landed in Chinese mainland since the founding of the People's Republic of China (note: geographically, "Chinese mainland" does not include Taiwan Province and Hainan). When WANDA landed, the eye of the wind was still very big-Liuheng Island, which is more than 3 kilometers away from the landing point, also experienced the phenomenon of wind and rain stopping. The air pressure at Shipu Station began to drop wildly at 11: p.m. that day, and dropped by 29.5HPA within one hour. At midnight, when the southern part of the eye of the wind crossed Shipu, a shocking data came from the weather station-914.5 HPA, which is 923HPA when converted into sea level pressure! This is the extreme value of air pressure measured in China since the founding of the People's Republic of China, and the map of air pressure change at Shipu Station from the evening of August 1 to the early morning of August 2 has also been left in the textbook forever. The winds in the coastal areas of northern and central Zhejiang are all above 12. Because the Velda anemometer at Shipu Station was destroyed by the wind at 9: that night, no wind speed data was left near the landing point. It is generally believed that there may be an average wind speed of about 6M/S on Xiangshan Peninsula, and some data point out that its maximum wind speed once reached 75M/S! If the latter is confirmed, it will become the third wind speed in China on record.

Although it was a small tide on the landing day, WANDA's powerful power and rapid pressure change still pushed up the tide level along the coast of northern Zhejiang. A storm of 5.2 meters increased water in Ganpu, Zhejiang Province. This national record was not broken until 24 years later by Typhoon No.87. The highest tide level in Xiangshan Port is 4.7 meters. More than 4 seawalls have been destroyed along the coast of Zhejiang. The Tuhai seawall in front of Nanzhuang Plain collapsed, and the surviving seawall also seemed useless-the sea level has exceeded the top of the seawall ... The seawater is overwhelming, and the Nanzhuang Plain of 8 square kilometers is a piece of Wang Yang, with an average water depth of more than 1 meter, and the water depth even reaches 5 meters in some places. There is no land in the whole plain, 77,395 houses are washed away, many people are washed away by the tide in their sleep, and some are on the way to evacuate. People can only survive if they climb a solid roof and climb tall trees. The fertile land was flooded by more than 1, mu, and countless crops that had not been harvested were destroyed. The tide even reached the foot of Dancheng, the county seat of Xiangshan. The horrors in the plain may only be described by the witnesses ... Numerous fishing boats sheltered from the wind in Xiangshan Port were sunk by the waves; Many trees in Zhoushan city were uprooted, and some people who resisted Taiwan by the sea were blown into the air by the strong wind, and then fell heavily on the ground-or in the sea ...

The next day, the plain was still full of tides, but it began to recede slowly. It was not until August 3, 1956 that the accumulated water completely subsided, and the clouds finally leaked out of the gap. The long-lost morning sun shone on Nanzhuang-and countless lives who had experienced this disaster. Because the people were not organized to evacuate to high places before WANDA came, the survivors almost fainted when they saw the scene before them-more than 3, bodies were found in the rubble and ruins of houses, in the fields and fields, beside the remaining seawall, 241 families were killed and 5,614 people were injured. People even found some bodies huddled together-several people in the whole family were not separated until they died. In addition, dead chickens and ducks are scattered everywhere in the fields. Like human beings, they have not escaped this disaster. This is the scene of a hell on earth ... and the actual death toll may be even higher. Some survivors pointed out that only 8 people survived in Xiashan Village with a population of more than 1,8. It is lamentable that 5 cadres at all levels died in the anti-Taiwan war, and three PLA soldiers closed their eyes forever. There are 3,625 deaths in Zhoushan and Ningbo districts, and 3,41 deaths in Xiangshan County alone. Dancheng Primary School became a temporary shelter, a plane of the People's Air Force.