Typhoon "Talim" went over Miyako...

[palmfriend]

Hello there,

it is just a few days ago that Irma raged in Florida - now we got hit by typhoon "Talim" (category: very strong)

two days ago. It`s first direction was toward Taiwan but then it changed its course slowly to Miyako - and finally

kept on going in our direction. Its started Wednesday (Sept.12th) in the morning and turned into a total rage

in the afternoon. I had to be at work to take of our customers, so I could not really follow how it went outside.

But the noises were very intense, almost scaring. Around midnight it started very slowly to calm down and that

was the moment I took my chance and went home.

The next day it looked like that (at my place of work):

This Cocos nucifera was ripped out while Livistonia chinensis in the back didn`t seem to be harmed at all.

Another C.n. loss, in the back Satakentias, shaken but not damaged.

A final view back - it will take a while that this road will get its charme back.

Arriving home after midnight (on the typhoon day) I didn`t dare to look for even a second into my yard because spotting one fallen palm would have kept me away

from sleeping. I hoped for the best when getting up in the morning - telling myself, I did what I could do, the rest is out of my hands.

All right, next morning - my yard:

Totally relieved - my Washingtonia babies, still upright...

Champions here on Miyako, Veitchia merillii, ...not even a "scratch"...

Slightly damaged but still in place - my most favorite Cocos nucifera. I felt not well during the typhoon since

I removed the stakes a few months ago....

Another one, slightly bend but still strongly ankered in the ground - I had to cut off quite a few leaves.

One of my Alexander palms, young but strong. It will outgrow the damage during the next months - so, no worries.

These two babies kept me worried at night, my beloved Veitchia joannis. I was so glad to find them

still standing because they seemed to have no strong grip in the ground. Loosing all their fonds was

"kind of smart" - it probably saved them. They will surely recover and I am looking forward to it.

My group of Howeas - still fine. In the right background one of my late acquisitions, Dypsis decarii - knotted tightly to a stick - no risk was taken, looking good.

Heavily shaken - not recognizable - one of my Clinostigma samoense. It should be ok, but I guess it will take

some time.

My Pigafetta - what a desaster! I really hope that it will recover.

Still looking good - Clinostigma harlandii. I am glad about it because it is currently my

best growing Clinostigma. I have two C. ponapense as well but those are very slowly.

Two other Alexander palms. They were bend over so I am going to push them back

gently, secure them with stakes and put some extra soil around them. I don`t want to loose them.

My Elais g., I will put her back upright and secure her as well - I don`t think that there is

serious root damage. She should be fine.

Finally, after expecting the worst when heading home I am very very happy that I have no loss so far. It will take some time but the palms will recover, I think.

I am sure I got to think about some methods to secure my palms when getting bigger - but I am looking forward to it.

All right, thank you for your time,

best regards -

Lars

 

[Xenon]

Wow, I'm surprised how poorly the coconuts performed. I wish your garden a speedy recovery. 

Edited September 15, 2017 by Xenon

[realarch]

Glad to hear you made it through without too much damage. Looks like most of your palms, as you have said, will rebound in a short amount of time.

Good luck! 

[PalmatierMeg]

Lars, your garden took its beating very well. I, too, think the palms will recover but may look ragged for a while. Many of mine suffered broken fronds during Irma, which is their defense in high winds. Your garden soon will be beautiful again.

[Palm Tree Jim]

Lars,

Although it may not look it's best after this storm, the palms should regrow and in 12 months your garden will shine!

[Jesse]

Lars, the moment I heard about the typhoon, I was immediately concerned for the palm collectors on Miyako Island and your beautiful C.N. It's relieving to see that there has not been too much loss so far. You have a nice collection and I hope that it will return to beauty quickly.

[Jeff Searle]

I'm so sorry for your lost. We share the same pain.

[Cluster]

I am surprised the cocos fared badly, they are known to be quite resistant to tropical storms. Maybe they were not very healthy to begin with or not properly anchored.

[ChrisA]

So glad you yard fared so well. I've been following your young C. nucifera through these last few years so I'm glad to see it looking so full following the Typhoon.  Here's to a speedy recovery for your palms! That area near your work looks completely devastated! Some of those coconut palms were really cut down!  

Hope the folks on your island do well through the aftermath.

 

My condolences,

-Chris

 

P.S. That Washingtonia in the corner is an absolute tank!  Is that robusta? And if so is that typical for one grown in your area/climate?

Edited September 15, 2017 by ChrisA
Addition of PostScript

[Palmaceae]

Wow, got some heavy winds there. After Irma a lot of my palms leaned over, but have most staked up now. My coconut palms all had damage and all of them leaned over.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Lars,

I am glad that you and your family and your home are okay.  Your yard took a bit of a beating, but like everyone has said, will bounce back soon and be looking fine again before you know it.  I am surprised though, that the coconut palms on your island took such a beating.  They are the MOST hurricane resistant plant on Earth as far as I know.  Even my little coconut palms came through Harvey just fine, with only a few broken leaves.  My big Green Malayan Dwarf right off my front patio, you can't even tell it was phased at all by the hurricane.

John

[Tropicgardener]

I am sorry to see such damage, looks very much like the damage caused by Cyclone Debbie here back in March........  I too was amazed at how Cyclone resistant Livistona chinensis and Adonidia merrillii are !!

[Monòver]

1 hour ago, Tropicgardener said:

I am sorry to see such damage, looks very much like the damage caused by Cyclone Debbie here back in March........  I too was amazed at how Cyclone resistant Livistona chinensis and Adonidia merrillii are !!

Me too, those liv. Chinensis are like rocks!!!

Your garden will recover soon and it will be stronger for sure.

[palmfriend]

 

Hello everyone,

Thank you very very much for your comments and encouraging words - I am overwhelmed!

First of all I am sorry that it took a moment to be back here on pt, but there was a lot of work to do,

yesterday was family day - today I am off - and usually I like to put some time into when being here on pt

which was not possible during the last days with power outage, kids`s school/nursery school closed etc. etc.

My honest apologies!

On 2017/9/15 13:55:11, Xenon said:

Wow, I'm surprised how poorly the coconuts performed. I wish your garden a speedy recovery. 

 

On 2017/9/16 3:32:57, Cluster said:

I am surprised the cocos fared badly, they are known to be quite resistant to tropical storms. Maybe they were not very healthy to begin with or not properly anchored.

Jonathan, Pedro,

Thank you very much!

it is indeed surprising, that the cocos took such damages.

What I have learned in conversations afterwards about this matter and local newspapers is that the amount of rain we got on the typhoon day was equal to two

normal months - so, the ground was very very soft, plus the extreme winds PLUS - and that is probably the main reason: The coconuts here on Miyako are

usually permanently infested by two different kind of bugs (Oryctes rhinoceros and Asecodes hispinarum), sitting deep inside of the palm and

weaking the leaves right from the "start".

...

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by palmfriend
connection problem

[palmfriend]

...

I had a connection problem, so here I am back:

Jonathan, Pedro,

It seems that there is no effective method to get rid of them and that might explain the weak performance of our cocnuts like this:

In my yard I am using different anti-bug sprays/waters regularly but I am not sure how I am going to keep it going when my palms are getting taller - I have

to think about some method in the future.

Allright, I hope that explanation will be good for you for the moment.

On 2017/9/15 18:15:01, realarch said:

Glad to hear you made it through without too much damage. Looks like most of your palms, as you have said, will rebound in a short amount of time.

Good luck! 

 

On 2017/9/15 21:29:37, PalmatierMeg said:

Lars, your garden took its beating very well. I, too, think the palms will recover but may look ragged for a while. Many of mine suffered broken fronds during Irma, which is their defense in high winds. Your garden soon will be beautiful again.

 

On 2017/9/15 21:36:25, Palm Tree Jim said:

Lars,

Although it may not look it's best after this storm, the palms should regrow and in 12 months your garden will shine!

Meg, Timothy, Jim,

Thank you very very much for your kind words! Since life is still trying to get back to normal I am sure the garden will recover completely -

we have at least two months left of summerly conditions and that will help to jump start the most of the palms with pushing new leaves.

I will keep you updated -

Thank you very much again!

On 2017/9/15 22:40:33, Jesse said:

Lars, the moment I heard about the typhoon, I was immediately concerned for the palm collectors on Miyako Island and your beautiful C.N. It's relieving to see that there has not been too much loss so far. You have a nice collection and I hope that it will return to beauty quickly.

Jesse,

Thank you very much - especially for sharing my concerns regarding my favorite cocos nucifera. It should be ok, the leaves are a bit shaken but it is still

pushing three new inflorescences. I can`t wait to see it growing its own first coconuts - I`ll keep you posted!

On 2017/9/16 1:41:01, Jeff Searle said:

I'm so sorry for your lost. We share the same pain.

Jeff,

That is very kind of you - thank you very much! I really hope your nursery didn`t get hit too much when Irma raged in Florida!

I am really looking forward to the new "reports" about your special sale days -

Thank you very much again!

On 2017/9/16 8:33:35, ChrisA said:

So glad you yard fared so well. I've been following your young C. nucifera through these last few years so I'm glad to see it looking so full following the Typhoon.  Here's to a speedy recovery for your palms! That area near your work looks completely devastated! Some of those coconut palms were really cut down!  

Hope the folks on your island do well through the aftermath.

 

My condolences,

-Chris

 

P.S. That Washingtonia in the corner is an absolute tank!  Is that robusta? And if so is that typical for one grown in your area/climate?

Chris,

Thank you very much! That cocos nucifera is indeed somehow the centerpiece of my yard - a loss would have been painful for me, thank`s a lot for

following my postings about it!

It is indeed surprising, how devasted some places are while others look almost unharmed. We have got - usually typhoon proof - road trees,

many broken in a row with even the concrete structure around them ripped out - the winds at those places must have been unimaginably strong -

and my yard is just a few hundred meters away from that. Yes, I got probably lucky this time...

The island itself is turning back to normal, supermarket shelves are filled up again - cleaning up will take some more time, but it should be ok.

Tourists are rolling in again as like nothing had happened - you just have to warm them about the sea with its still changed - and thats why very

dangerous - currents.

PS: You are correct, those Washingtonias are robustas, especially the one on the right side is not moving even an inch if you try to push it with all power,

the pure trunk is already five feet tall while the tree is just about four and a half years old. I am not sure if there are other Wahingtonias on this

island - I grew them from seeds from rps.

I had to remove some leaves but they are definitely going to make it.

On 2017/9/17 10:34:31, Palmaceae said:

Wow, got some heavy winds there. After Irma a lot of my palms leaned over, but have most staked up now. My coconut palms all had damage and all of them leaned over.

Pastor Randy,

it was indeed a strong typhoon hitting our islands directly - happened the last time a couple of years ago. I have staked up all of my palm as well because the

typhoon season is unfortuantely not over yet. I am hoping your garden will recover soon, all the best!

On 2017/9/17 12:02:00, Mr. Coconut Palm said:

Lars,

I am glad that you and your family and your home are okay.  Your yard took a bit of a beating, but like everyone has said, will bounce back soon and be looking fine again before you know it.  I am surprised though, that the coconut palms on your island took such a beating.  They are the MOST hurricane resistant plant on Earth as far as I know.  Even my little coconut palms came through Harvey just fine, with only a few broken leaves.  My big Green Malayan Dwarf right off my front patio, you can't even tell it was phased at all by the hurricane.

John

John,

Thank you very much for your kind words! The family and the house is okay, thank`s God, the garden took some beating but - as you wrote - should do well again.

Regarding the coconut palm and their performance, I have put some thoughts in my reply to Adam and Jonathan - please take a look at it.

Btw....

...this beauty unfortunately turned into this one...

To give its fallen babies a try I allowed myself to pick up two of its fruits...

On 2017/9/17 17:45:52, Tropicgardener said:

I am sorry to see such damage, looks very much like the damage caused by Cyclone Debbie here back in March........  I too was amazed at how Cyclone resistant Livistona chinensis and Adonidia merrillii are !!

Andrew,

Thank you very much!

I am afraid the typhoon season is not over yet - lasting usually until the mid of October - but it should be unlikely to get hit directly again within four weeks...

I am hoping for the best!

You are right, Livistonia chinensis, Adonidia merrillii - and to add one more - Phoenix roebelenii are the absolute winners over here, I have seen only

one damaged Christmas palm so far. There might be one more species, but I haven`t checked the most of their places so far, Dypsis decaryi seems to be

wind resistant, as well. I have seen a few mature ones close to my place of work - still looking strikingly beautiful.

To find out about wind resisting palms over here is an interesting task, I`ll keep you posted.

On 2017/9/17 18:54:24, Monòver said:

Me too, those liv. Chinensis are like rocks!!!

Your garden will recover soon and it will be stronger for sure.

Antonio,

Thank you very much - yes, I hope my young palms will get stronger with the regular typhoons - I will do my part!

...

Thank you very much again for your time -

finishing with a final image through the window from our living room...

Best regards -

Lars

 

 

Edited September 19, 2017 by palmfriend
upload mistake

[Tropicgardener]

Lars,

This was my area back in March this year....... Severe Tropical Cyclone 'Debbie' scored a direct hit on us...... Some wind gusts exceeded 300km/h, very similar result to yours  

[JT in Japan]

Wow, you got hit hard, Lars. Sorry to see all the damage. By the time the typhoon got to mid-Honshu and my area of Shimoda, it was a strong wind and some rain, but no real damage beyond some tomato plants blowing over.

My farm took a little wind, and the weed cover I'd just finished staking down over a new section (about 100 tsubo), got blown all to heck. I went and restaked it on Sunday, then laid about 35 lengths of heavy-gauge, 3m long pipe to weigh it down, but it all got blown apart that night. So I left it as is. 

No more typhoons please.

Jt

[palmfriend]

2 hours ago, Tropicgardener said:

Lars,

This was my area back in March this year....... Severe Tropical Cyclone 'Debbie' scored a direct hit on us...... Some wind gusts exceeded 300km/h, very similar result to yours  

Andrew,

that looks pretty much shaken up! The official speed of the wind over here was close to 200km/h but there were probably much stronger tops of it "at work".

Some cars were flipped over in our only town Hirara, as well, power outage lasted in some regions of our island for four days - so, it was quite a heavy blow.

As mentioned before, I hope we won`t get hit that much again during the remaining four/five weeks of the official typhoon season - we will see.

Thank you for sharing the photo!

2 hours ago, JT in Japan said:

Wow, you got hit hard, Lars. Sorry to see all the damage. By the time the typhoon got to mid-Honshu and my area of Shimoda, it was a strong wind and some rain, but no real damage beyond some tomato plants blowing over.

My farm took a little wind, and the weed cover I'd just finished staking down over a new section (about 100 tsubo), got blown all to heck. I went and restaked it on Sunday, then laid about 35 lengths of heavy-gauge, 3m long pipe to weigh it down, but it all got blown apart that night. So I left it as is. 

No more typhoons please.

Jt

JT,

we have got around two summerly months left, so my garden should be back on the recovering track for sure before the winter with lower temps and

lower humidity kicks in. The problem is, the later the typhoon the lesser the chances of recovering - so I agree, no more typhoons please!

best regards -

Lars

 

[Kim]

Just the anticipation of these storms must be scary, then you have to live through it and endure the damage and clean up.   Luckily your family, home, and garden fared well enough! Palms can be quite resilient if they keep upright with the growing point intact -- all will be well soon.

[Mr. Coconut Palm]

Lars,

You are very welcome.  I read your explanation above.  I figured that there had to be something affecting the coconut palms that weakened them.

John

[palmfriend]

On 2017/9/19 23:39:51, Kim said:

Just the anticipation of these storms must be scary, then you have to live through it and endure the damage and clean up.   Luckily your family, home, and garden fared well enough! Palms can be quite resilient if they keep upright with the growing point intact -- all will be well soon.

Kim,

Thank you very much for your kind words! Yes, most important - family and home are fine, the garden will be ok, too - but it will need some time which is ok.

These storms are an inseparable part of this region life, so you have to get along with it somehow. Our indigene palms like Satakentia, Livistonia chinensis and

Angleri plus other ones from closer regions (eg. Veitchia merillii) are somehow used (very resistant) to the typhoons and are futhermore almost immune against

local bugs and several (plant) diseases which makes them winners over here and a very safe bet when it comes to start your garden. The "problem" is,

I would like to try other palms as well and since seeds from palms all over the world became available through the internet, I can`t express how happy I am

to give many other species a try as well. The risk is on me, but seeing exotic palms pushing new spears and starting to trunk gives me a great satisfaction!

Some of them will fail - I would say my Pigafetta will get problems over here when getting tall - while others could probably get established

successfully (eg. Cyrtostachys renda) - we will see. I have just started "my mission" yet and I am looking foward to find out what is possible here and what not.

Sharing thoughts, concerns, feelings and knowledge here on palmtalk is a very important part of this hobby, as well and I am very happy and thankful to be

able to use it.

"Our typhoons" are definitely a crucial element you have to take into consideration when trying to grow non-indigene palms, but since my pleasures outweigh

my concerns - I see no reason to give up! All right, my reply became a little bit long, my apologies,

best regards -

Lars

 

 

 

[NatureGirl]

Bummer, I spent 3 yrs as a youngster on Naha AFB in Okinawa. I went through 2 Typhoons while there, and 6 or 7 Hurricanes in Florida- so far......

[palmfriend]

On 9/22/2017, 2:08:30, NatureGirl said:

Bummer, I spent 3 yrs as a youngster on Naha AFB in Okinawa. I went through 2 Typhoons while there, and 6 or 7 Hurricanes in Florida- so far......

Nature G.,

it is my 8th year down here and all I can say is, every year is different. Sometimes we get almost none typhoons in the whole area, 

another year we have typhoons almost every week (especially in fall). We have strong or very strong ones, with or without a lot of rain,

fast ones and slow ones, the most typhoons are just passing by but sometimes we get hit directly. Predicting a typhoon`s course is until now

obviously almost impossible - changing course and strength overnight happens every time. 

I hope this year`s typhoon season will be over - officially in the mid of October - but we got a very hot summer this year and the 

north east Pacific is still warmer than usual - it might not be over yet.

best regards

Lars

[Cluster]

Hello Lars,

Thanks for your explanation regarding the why(s) the coconuts might not be as strong there. Andrew coconut pictures seemed to fare better than on your island, they did better than the royals at their side.