Typhoon Koppu

Typhoon Koppu, known in the Philippines as Super Typhoon Lando, was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck Luzon in mid-October 2015. The twenty-fourth named storm and fifteenth typhoon of the 2015 Pacific typhoon season, Koppu originated from a tropical disturbance east of the Mariana Islands on October 10. Moving briskly westward, the system consolidated into a tropical depression the following day and further into a tropical storm on October 13. Over the warm waters of the Philippine Sea, Koppu quickly deepened. The storm reached its peak intensity on October 17 with ten-minute sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph), according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) classified Koppu as a Category 4-equivalent super typhoon with one-minute sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). The storm subsequently made landfall at this strength near Casiguran, Aurora, Philippines. Shortly after, Koppu rapidly weakened due to interaction with the mountainous terrain of Luzon and the disheveled core of Koppu emerged over the South China Sea on October 19. Unfavorable environmental conditions inhibited reorganization and the system diminished to a tropical depression on October 21.

Prior to Koppu's landfall, PAGASA raised Public Storm Warning Signals for numerous provinces; nearly 24,000 people evacuated accordingly. The storm caused tremendous structural damage in coastal provinces, with thousands of structures damaged or destroyed. Prolonged, heavy rains that peaked at 1,077.8 mm (42.43 in) in Baguio exacerbated the storm's effects and resulted in widespread flooding. 62 people were killed across the country and more than 100,000 others were displaced. Preliminary damage totals amount to ₱14.4 billion (US$313 million).