In Brief

Deadly Tropical Storm Trami Strengthens into Typhoon

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Tropical Storm Trami
NASA's Aqua satellite captured this infrared image of Tropical Storm Trami (purple) on Aug. 20 at 1:05 a.m. EDT when it was blanketing the northern half of the Philippines and dropping heavy rainfall. (Image credit: NASA/JPL)

A deadly combination of monsoon rains and heavy rainfall from Tropical Storm Trami swamped the northern Philippines on Monday and Tuesday. NASA's Aqua satellite snapped an infrared image of the ferocious storm as it blanketed the capital city of Manila, where at least 15 people died in the flooding, according to news reports. More than 130,000 people were evacuated or left their homes because of the rising floodwaters, the Associated Press reported. 

Trami is moving west toward northern Taiwan today (Aug. 20) at 13.8 mph (22.2 km/h), NASA said in a statement. After passing the Philippines, the storm intensified into a Category 1 typhoon (the equivalent of a hurricane), according to an update from the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The approaching Typhoon Trami is already dropping heavy rainfall in Taiwan, prompting school closures and shutdown of some high-speed rail lines, the Associated Press reports.

Read more: ABC News

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Becky Oskin
Becky Oskin
Contributing Writer
Becky Oskin covers Earth science, climate change and space, as well as general science topics. Becky was a science reporter at Live Science and The Pasadena Star-News; she has freelanced for New Scientist and the American Institute of Physics. She earned a master's degree in geology from Caltech, a bachelor's degree from Washington State University, and a graduate certificate in science writing from the University of California, Santa Cruz.