Most Destructive Typhoons: Top 10 in Recorded History

The most destructive typhoons in history include Nina, the 1922 Shantou typhoon, Haiyan, Vera, Bopha, Sarah, Ida, Yagi, Morakot and Doksuri.

A typhoon is a mature tropical cyclone that forms over the north-western Pacific Ocean, between the International Date Line and 100°E, with sustained winds of at least 119 km/h (74 mph). The same kind of storm is called a hurricane in the Atlantic and north-eastern Pacific and a cyclone in the Indian Ocean. The north-western Pacific produces almost a third of the world's tropical cyclones, and its storms are on average the most numerous and the most intense on Earth.

That combination of power and frequency, aimed at some of the most crowded coastlines and river valleys in the world, explains why typhoons have caused so many of history's worst natural disasters. This guide ranks the ten typhoons that caused the greatest destruction in recorded history, explains what made each one so deadly or costly, and corrects a few famous storms whose reputations do not match the evidence.

This article is general information. During a real storm, always follow the warnings of your national weather service and local authorities.

How We Ranked the Most Destructive Typhoons

There is no single official league table of destructive typhoons, because a storm can be devastating in different ways. A slow, weak system can drown a region in rain, while a ferocious super typhoon can wipe out a coastline with its storm surge. This ranking is an editorial judgement that weighs four things.

• Loss of life: the number of people killed, using the most widely accepted figures and noting where estimates are disputed.
• Physical destruction: homes, farmland, dams and infrastructure destroyed.
• Economic loss: the damage estimate in US dollars at the time, with the caveat that older figures look small because of inflation and lighter development.
• Lasting impact: whether the storm changed laws, building practices or how a country prepares for disasters.

Storms with very high death tolls rank highest. Modern storms that killed fewer people but caused record financial damage sit lower in the list, because money can rebuild a city but cannot bring back lives. Only storms that reached typhoon strength are included, so the deadly 1991 Tropical Storm Thelma in the Philippines appears in a separate section below.

The Most Destructive Typhoons at a Glance

1. Typhoon Nina (1975)

What Happened

Typhoon Nina strengthened explosively east of Taiwan, with aircraft measuring a pressure drop of 65 hPa as its winds doubled in a day. It struck Taiwan near Hualien, crossed the Taiwan Strait and came ashore in Fujian as a tropical storm. The danger seemed to be over, but the storm's remains drifted inland and stalled over Zhumadian in Henan for about three days, blocked by a cold front.

The stalled system unleashed rain on a scale few places have ever seen. Around the Banqiao Dam, 1,631 mm fell in total, including 830 mm in just six hours. The dam had been designed for a one-in-a-thousand-year event of roughly 300 mm in a day. In the early hours of 8 August its reservoir rose above the top of the wave wall and the dam gave way, followed by the Shimantan Dam and dozens of smaller ones.

Why It Was So Destructive

• Sixty-two dams collapsed in all, releasing walls of water across the Huai River plain.
• About 12,000 square km was flooded, affecting a population of more than 10 million.
• Between 5 million and 6.8 million houses collapsed.
• Famine and disease after the flood killed far more people than the water itself.

Significance

The Banqiao disaster is often described as the world's worst dam failure. Many of the dams in the region had been built quickly in the 1950s, with too much focus on storing water and too little on releasing floods. Details were kept secret for years, and official documents were only declassified in 2005. Nina is a stark reminder that the deadliest part of a typhoon is often not its wind but the rain it delivers far inland.

Interesting Facts

• Nina had already weakened to a tropical storm when it reached mainland China.
• In Taiwan, the storm brought gusts of up to 222 km/h and killed 29 people.
• After the Banqiao and Shimantan dams failed, some downstream dams were deliberately bombed to relieve pressure on larger reservoirs.
• About 102 km of the Beijing to Guangzhou railway was cut by the floods.

2. The 1922 Shantou Typhoon

What Happened

The storm formed near the Caroline Islands in late July 1922, crossed northern Luzon in the Philippines and strengthened over the South China Sea. It came ashore close to the port city of Shantou, then known in English as Swatow, late on 2 August or early on 3 August, and quickly faded inland.

Why It Was So Destructive

• A storm surge at least 12 ft (about 3.7 m) above normal swept into the low-lying city and nearby villages.
• About 5,000 of Shantou's roughly 65,000 residents died, and the surrounding district lost around 50,000 more.
• Some nearby villages were destroyed completely.
• Ships were wrecked along the coast, and some were carried as far as two miles inland.

Significance

With a toll above 60,000, the Shantou typhoon is one of the deadliest tropical cyclones ever recorded in the western North Pacific. It arrived before satellites, radar and modern warning systems, when coastal communities had almost no advance notice. Its story shows how a storm surge, not wind, is usually what kills most people when a powerful typhoon strikes a crowded coast.

Interesting Facts

• Because it crossed a thinly populated part of Luzon, the storm caused little reported damage in the Philippines.
• Heavy rain left the ground around Shantou waterlogged for days after the surge receded.
• Other typhoons with comparable death tolls include one that struck China in 1912 and Typhoon Nina in 1975.

3. Typhoon Haiyan (2013)

What Happened

Haiyan formed east of Micronesia in early November 2013 and intensified rapidly into a Category 5 super typhoon, passing over the Palauan island of Kayangel. It slammed into Guiuan in Eastern Samar at full strength, then made five more landfalls as it crossed the central Philippines. It later brushed Vietnam and southern China as a weaker storm.

Why It Was So Destructive

• Its winds made it one of the strongest tropical cyclones ever observed at landfall.
• A storm surge of about 5.2 m (17 ft) destroyed the terminal building at Tacloban Airport up to its second storey.
• Low-lying neighbourhoods of Tacloban, Leyte, were almost completely washed away, and an evacuation centre's ground floor was submerged.
• The United Nations estimated that about 11 million people were affected.

Significance

Haiyan is the deadliest typhoon in modern Philippine history, with 5,902 of the 6,300 confirmed deaths in Eastern Visayas. Many victims had sheltered in low buildings that the surge then flooded, including the Tacloban City Convention Center. The name Haiyan was retired in 2014 and replaced with Bailu.

Interesting Facts

• Haiyan was the most intense and deadliest tropical cyclone anywhere in the world in 2013.
• In Taiwan, waves of up to 8 m swept 16 people out to sea along the coast of New Taipei.
• Hainan in China suffered flooding that isolated about 3,500 people in 20 villages.
• Communications were so badly damaged that early news of the devastation spread through photos taken on mobile phones.

4. Typhoon Vera (1959)

What Happened

Vera formed between Guam and Chuuk on 20 September 1959 and rapidly grew into a storm equal to a modern Category 5 hurricane. It curved north and struck the Kii Peninsula of Honshu, then tore across central Japan at about 61 km/h. It remains the strongest and deadliest typhoon on record to make landfall in Japan, and the only one to do so at Category 5 strength.

Why It Was So Destructive

• Ise Bay's shape and shallow water funnelled the storm surge towards the coast.
• Water at the Port of Nagoya rose 3.9 m (13 ft) above normal, and the harbour was out of action in under three hours.
• The surge breached earthen levees and flood barriers, flooding low-lying neighbourhoods and sinking ships.
• About 150,000 tons of rice were lost.

Significance

Vera was forecast accurately, but poor communications and little urgency in the media meant many people did not evacuate in time. The disaster struck while Japan was still rebuilding after the Second World War and became a turning point for the country. It led to the Disaster Countermeasures Basic Act of 1961, often called the cornerstone of Japan's disaster risk reduction laws, which created the Central Disaster Prevention Council.

Interesting Facts

• Vera's damage would equal about US$6.6 billion in 2025 money.
• Exact death tolls still differ between sources, with hundreds more people reported missing.
• Rain from the storm's outer bands caused river flooding before the eye even reached land.

5. Typhoon Bopha (2012)

What Happened

Bopha formed unusually close to the equator in late November 2012 and reached Category 5 strength at a latitude of just 7.4°N, the second-most southerly on record for a storm of that power. After damaging homes and power lines in Palau, it struck eastern Mindanao on 3 December, an island that rarely sees typhoons of this strength.

Why It Was So Destructive

• It was the strongest tropical cyclone ever recorded to hit Mindanao.
• Flash floods and landslides buried communities in mountainous areas.
• An estimated 70 to 80 per cent of plantations in the Compostela Valley were destroyed, mostly export bananas.
• Crop damage alone was valued at about 8.5 billion pesos (US$210 million).

Significance

Because Mindanao sits south of the usual typhoon tracks, many communities had little experience of storms like Bopha. The disaster showed that places once thought relatively safe can still take a direct hit from a top-strength storm. The name Bopha was retired in 2013 and replaced with Ampil.

Interesting Facts

• Only Typhoon Louise in 1964 reached Category 5 closer to the equator than Bopha.
• Bopha was the final super typhoon of the 2012 Pacific season.
• Hundreds of people remained missing for weeks after the storm.

6. Typhoon Sarah (1959)

What Happened

Sarah formed near Guam during the very active 1959 season and peaked as a super typhoon before striking the small Japanese island of Miyako-jima, where pressure fell to 908.1 mbar. It then turned north and hit South Korea near Busan, becoming the strongest storm to make landfall in the country until Typhoon Maemi in 2003. Its remnants crossed Hokkaido and the Russian Far East.

Why It Was So Destructive

• South Korea recorded wind gusts of 169 km/h, a national record at the time.
• High winds and waves heavily damaged the port of Busan.
• More than 14,000 homes were destroyed in South Korea.
• On Miyako-jima, all the crops were damaged and about 6,000 houses were destroyed.

Significance

Sarah was described as the worst typhoon to hit Korea in 50 years, and it struck a country still recovering from the Korean War. The loss of around 1,200 fishermen at sea shows how typhoons endanger people working offshore, not just those living on the coast. Sarah arrived only days before Vera, making September 1959 one of the most destructive months in the region's history.

Interesting Facts

• Its Miyako-jima pressure reading of 908.1 mbar was the second-lowest ever recorded in Japan.
• Widespread flooding in Japan destroyed 16,632 homes.
• Sarah was one of the strongest storms on record to reach Russia.

7. Typhoon Ida (1958)

What Happened

Ida formed near Guam on 20 September 1958 and deepened at a ferocious rate, at times by 5.8 mbar an hour. When Hurricane Hunter aircraft measured 877 mb on 24 September, it became the strongest tropical cyclone on record at the time. It weakened before reaching Japan but still came ashore with winds of about 130 km/h and enormous amounts of rain.

Why It Was So Destructive

• Up to 748.6 mm of rain fell on Mount Amagi on the Izu Peninsula.
• The rains triggered more than 1,900 mudslides.
• The Kano River burst its banks and destroyed villages on the Izu Peninsula, giving the storm its Japanese name.
• Tokyo received almost 430 mm of rain in a day, its highest daily total since records began in 1876.

Significance

Ida was regarded as the worst storm to hit Japan since the Muroto typhoon of 1934 and is counted as the sixth-deadliest typhoon in Japanese history. Its toll came largely from inland flooding and landslides rather than coastal surge. Its intensity record stood until Typhoon Nora in 1973, and the all-time record now belongs to Typhoon Tip.

Interesting Facts

• Communications with the Izu Peninsula, the worst-hit area, were cut during the storm.
• United States military units joined the relief effort after the storm.
• Ida became an extratropical storm the day after landfall.

8. Typhoon Yagi (2024)

What Happened

Yagi formed north-west of Palau at the end of August 2024 and crossed northern Luzon as a tropical storm. Over the South China Sea it exploded into a Category 5 super typhoon, weakened briefly, then reached Category 5 a second time, the only storm known to do so in that sea. It hit Hainan on 6 September, passed directly over the city of Haikou, and struck northern Vietnam near Haiphong the next day.

Why It Was So Destructive

• More than 741,800 buildings were damaged, flooded or destroyed across the region.
• In Vietnam, 325 people died and more than 329,000 structures were affected, with landslides causing most deaths.
• Its remnants caused catastrophic flooding in Myanmar, where at least 433 people died.
• Hainan alone reported economic losses of about US$11.3 billion.

Significance

Vietnam's government called Yagi the strongest typhoon to hit the country in 70 years. Its widest damage came days after landfall, as its moisture fed floods and landslides in Myanmar, Laos and Thailand, far from where the eye came ashore. Its double Category 5 peak over the South China Sea showed that a storm this strong can form even in a sea that rarely produces one.

Interesting Facts

• Yagi was the second-strongest tropical cyclone worldwide in 2024, behind Hurricane Milton.
• It took the same rare path near Haiphong as the famous 1881 typhoon, 143 years later.
• It was the strongest typhoon on record to hit China in meteorological autumn.

9. Typhoon Morakot (2009)

What Happened

Morakot was not an especially strong typhoon, peaking as the equivalent of a Category 1 hurricane. The problem was its speed. It crawled across Taiwan for about a day and pulled in moisture from the south-west, dropping rain in amounts no typhoon in the region had produced before. It then crossed the Taiwan Strait and came ashore in mainland China on 9 August.

Why It Was So Destructive

• Rainfall peaked at 2,777 mm, far above the previous record of 1,736 mm set by Typhoon Herb in 1996.
• Massive mudflows and floods swept through southern Taiwan's mountains.
• A single landslide buried the mountain village of Siaolin (Xiaolin), killing several hundred residents.
• In China, nearly 2,000 homes were destroyed and 136,000 more damaged.

Significance

Morakot is the wettest and deadliest typhoon to hit Taiwan in recorded history. The slow early response drew fierce criticism, and the island's president, Ma Ying-jeou, apologised publicly. The number of soldiers in the rescue effort rose from about 2,100 to 46,000. The name Morakot was later retired.

Interesting Facts

• Siaolin had about 1,300 residents before the landslide.
• The storm weakened to a severe tropical storm before landfall, yet still caused catastrophic flooding.

10. Typhoon Doksuri (2023)

What Happened

Doksuri rapidly intensified into a super typhoon east of the Philippines in late July 2023 and struck the Babuyan Islands north of Luzon. After weakening, it intensified again over the South China Sea and hit Fujian in south-eastern China. Its remnants then moved north and stalled near Beijing, where they released extreme rain over Beijing, Hebei and the north-east.

Why It Was So Destructive

• Floods reached 9 of the Philippines' 17 regions, affecting more than 2 million people.
• Beijing recorded an average of 276.5 mm of rain, with 744.8 mm at the Wangjiayuan Reservoir in Changping District.
• At least 80 people died in northern China, including 33 in Beijing and 29 in Hebei.
• Fujian set records for 24-hour rainfall, with more than 648 mm in places.

Significance

Doksuri overtook Typhoon Mireille of 1991 as the costliest typhoon ever recorded, and it is the costliest tropical cyclone on record outside the North Atlantic. Like Nina half a century earlier, it showed that a typhoon's remnants can do the most harm far from the coast where it landed. Both its international name and its Philippine name, Egay, were retired.

Interesting Facts

• About 150,000 people in Taiwan lost power as the storm passed.
• In the Philippines, more than 300,000 people had to evacuate.
• A passenger boat, the MB Aya Express, capsized during the storm.

Famous Typhoons That Did Not Make the List

Several storms often appear on lists of the worst typhoons, but the evidence places them below the ten above or outside the category.

Comparing the Ten Typhoons

How Typhoons Cause Destruction

Each storm on this list caused damage in a different way, but the same four hazards appear again and again.

Storm Surge

A storm surge is a rise in sea level pushed ashore by the typhoon's winds and low pressure. It is usually the deadliest hazard on the coast, as Haiyan, Vera and the 1922 Shantou storm showed. Shallow, funnel-shaped bays such as Ise Bay make surges much higher.

Extreme Rainfall

Typhoons carry vast amounts of moisture, and slow-moving storms can release more than a year's rain in a few days. Nina, Ida, Morakot and Doksuri all did their worst damage through flooding rather than wind.

Landslides and Mudflows

On steep or deforested slopes, heavy rain turns soil into fast-moving mud. Landslides caused most of Yagi's deaths in Vietnam and buried the Taiwanese village of Siaolin during Morakot.

Wind

Winds above 250 km/h can flatten houses, crops and power lines. Wind matters most for damage to buildings and farms, though it is usually not the main cause of death.

How to Stay Safe During a Typhoon

• Follow official warnings and evacuate when told to, especially from coasts, river banks and hillsides.
• Learn your area's storm surge and landslide risk before the season starts.
• Keep an emergency kit with water, food, medicine, a torch, a battery radio and copies of documents.
• Move to sturdy, higher ground rather than sheltering on the ground floor near the sea.
• Stay away from flood water, rivers and fallen power lines after the storm passes.
• Remember that danger can continue for days after landfall as rivers rise inland.

Frequently Asked Questions

What is the deadliest typhoon in history?

Typhoon Nina in 1975 is generally considered the deadliest typhoon on record. Its rains caused the collapse of the Banqiao Dam and 61 other dams in Henan, China. About 26,000 people died in the floods, and estimates of the total, including later famine and disease, run as high as 240,000.

What is the difference between a typhoon and a hurricane?

There is no physical difference. Both are tropical cyclones with sustained winds of at least 119 km/h (74 mph). The name depends on location: storms in the north-western Pacific are typhoons, those in the Atlantic and north-eastern Pacific are hurricanes, and those in the Indian Ocean and South Pacific are usually called cyclones.

What is the costliest typhoon ever?

Typhoon Doksuri in 2023 is the costliest typhoon on record, with damage estimated at about US$28.6 billion. Most of the losses came in China, where its remnants caused record rain and flooding around Beijing and Hebei. It overtook Typhoon Mireille of 1991 and is the costliest tropical cyclone recorded outside the North Atlantic.

Which country is hit by the most typhoons?

The Philippines receives the brunt of typhoon landfalls in the north-western Pacific, the world's most active tropical cyclone basin. China, Japan, Vietnam, Taiwan and South Korea are also hit often. Vietnam alone sees an average of four to six typhoons a year during its season from June to November.

What was the strongest typhoon ever recorded?

Typhoon Tip in October 1979 is the most intense tropical cyclone ever recorded, with a sea-level pressure of 870 hPa and sustained winds of 305 km/h. It was also the largest, with winds spread over a diameter of about 2,220 km. Haiyan in 2013 had some of the highest wind speeds ever observed at landfall.

Did the 1881 Haiphong typhoon really kill 300,000 people?

Probably not. The figure of 300,000 deaths is widely repeated, but modern accounts put the toll at about 3,000. The larger number seems to have come from confusing the death toll with the damage figure. Haiphong was a young port town, and it had only 18,480 inhabitants as late as 1897.

Why are typhoon names retired?

When a typhoon causes major loss of life or damage, the affected country can ask the ESCAP/WMO Typhoon Committee to retire its name so it is never used again. The names Haiyan, Bopha, Morakot and Doksuri were all retired this way, and Haiyan was replaced by Bailu and Bopha by Ampil.

Conclusion

The most destructive typhoons in history did their damage in very different ways. Nina and Morakot killed through rain and failing dams, Haiyan, Vera and the 1922 Shantou storm through walls of seawater, and Yagi and Doksuri through floods that spread far beyond the coast where they landed. Strength alone does not decide the toll: the slow, weaker storms on this list were sometimes deadlier than the most powerful ones.

Better forecasting, satellites and evacuation planning have saved countless lives since the days of Shantou and Vera, yet modern storms like Haiyan and Yagi prove that preparation still matters as much as prediction. For more of the planet's extremes, explore our Environment section and our other Top 10 Facts lists.