1922: The Swatow Typhoon

This Date in Weather History

The 1922 Swatow Typhoon was a devastating tropical cyclone that caused thousands of deaths in the Chinese city of Swatow, less than 200 miles north of Hong Kong on the Pacific Coast of China, in August 1922. Striking the city on August 2, 1922. The death totals make it one of the deadliest known typhoons in history. A tropical depression located near the Caroline Islands was first spotted July 27. It moved slowly to the northwest, gradually intensifying. On July 31, it crossed northern Luzon, in the Philippines. Due to the typhoon passing through a lightly-inhabited part of the Philippines, no reports of significant impact were received. In Swatow in China, the typhoon caused a storm surge of at least 12 ft above normal on August 2. The rain was heavy, and left enough water to leave the land saturated for a few days. Swatow was an unfortunate city, as around 50,000 people out of a population of about 65,000 perished in the storm. Some nearby villages were totally destroyed. Several ships near the coast were totally wrecked. Other ones were blown as far as two miles inland. The area around the city had around another 50,000 casualties. The total death toll was above 60,000.

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