| Typhoon Tess | |
| Formed: | September 17, 1953 |
| Dissipated: | September 27, 1953 |
| Pressure: | 900 |
| Winds: | 150 |
| Basin: | wpac |
| Year: | 1953 |
| Fatalities: | 393 |
| Missing: | 85 |
| Areas: | Japan |
| Season: | 1953 Pacific typhoon season |
Typhoon Tess was a typhoon that caused great damage to Japan (especially the Kinki region) in September 1953 while Japan was still in the middle of post-war recovery.[1] [2] [3] The name 'Typhoon Tess' has been attributed to eleven other tropical cyclones.
On September 16, a weak tropical cyclone formed in the eastern Caroline Islands.[4] It remained relatively weak until around the September 21, but on the 22nd it strengthened rapidly. The pressure of Typhoon Tess was 993mb at 9:00 (JST) on the same day, and dropped to 900mb at 15:00 JST.[5] Such a sudden increase in power is extremely rare. This pressure drop corresponds to the largest of Pacific typhoons since 1951.[6] [7] Tess finally crossed the Shima Peninsula and made landfall to Aichi Prefecture on the September 25.
The number of people killed by Tess was 393, while 85 were missing. Japan suffered some large-scale disasters with more than 1,000 of casualties. When compared to the June 1953 North Kyushu flood and Wakayama flood, the damage caused by Typhoon Tess was relatively mild but still destructive, with 86,398 houses are destroyed, 495,875 flooded houses, 318,657 hectares of damaged agricultural fields and 5,582 damaged ships.[3]
Storm surge damages caused by a large number of typhoons were interfering with Japan's post-war recovery, especially Typhoon Tess of 1953.[8] The history of Japan's modern typhoon-induced coastal disaster prevention works began with Typhoon Tess and led to the enactment of the Coast Act in 1956.[9]