11.7.2007 9:20 AM

Typhoon Peipah Churning Toward Waterlogged Vietnam

Flooding Has Already Claimed Dozens of Lives

Satellite image of Typhoon Peipah in Bay of Bengal, as it nears Vietnam.

Photo: U.S. Navy

By Dan Shapley

Typhoon Peipah, a Category 1 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson scale, is churning toward Vietnam, headed for landfall sometime this weekend.

The 23rd storm of the 2007 typhoon season in the Western Pacific, Typhoon Peipah promises more rain in the beleaguered nation, where at least 200 people have died from flooding in the past two months.

The scientific jury is still out as to whether or not global warming influences the intensity or frequency of tropical cyclones. The United Nations has warned, however, to expect more frequent deadly flooding, among other extreme weather events, due to changes wrought by global warming.

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