Hurricanes and typhoons

As Typhoon Jelawat slams into the main islands of Japan today, the tropical cyclone season passes its peak. Tropical cyclones begin as low pressure builds beneath a storm over warm ocean water. Known as Hurricanes in the west, and typhoons in Asia, they grow as they move, sucking more warm air into the low pressure of the center. What results is a fierce giant capable of unleashing nature's full fury, with sustained winds of at least 74 mph for category 1 storms. While only one major Hurricane, Isaac, struck the US this season so far, several powerful storms have ravaged Asia, with the east coast of China absorbing blows from three typhoons in one week. Gathered here are images of storms from the current cyclone season. -- Lane Turner (34 photos total)

Pieces of polystyrene blow over a coastal road as typhoon Sanba hits Yeosu, South Korea on September 17, 2012. (Yonhap/AFP/GettyImages)

Students from the the University of Alabama measure wind speeds as Hurricane Isaac makes landfall on August 29, 2012, in New Orleans. (Eric Gay/Associated Press) #

A Chinese fisherman from a stranded fishing boat is saved as South Korean policemen rescue him and other fishermen in Seogwipo on Jeju Island, south of Seoul August 28, 2012. Typhoon Bolaven, with winds of up to 106 mph, buffeted South Korea's west coast, killing five people at sea and leaving 10 missing when two Chinese fishing vessels capsized. (Gang Jae-Nam/Newsis) #

Chinese families evacuate their homes in the outskirts of Shanghai on August 7, 2012, ahead of Typhoon Haikui, the third typhoon in a week to bore down on the east coast. (Stringer/AFP/GettyImages) #

A Haitian woman living in a tent camp for people affected by the January 2010 earthquake covers her face after her tent home was destroyed by Tropical Storm Isaac outside of Port-au-Prince on August 26, 2012. (Swoan Parker/Reuters) #

Bae Yang-soon, 70, cries on the broken road after the area was hit by Typhoon Sanba in Yeosu, South Korea on September 17, 2012. (Hyung Min-soo/Yonhap/Associated Press) #

A doll covered by mud lies in the floor of a flooded house after the passing of Tropical Storm Isaac in Port-au-Prince on August 26, 2012. (Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press) #

Hundreds are housed in a basketball court that has been converted into an evacuation center in Quezon City, Philippines on August 6, 2012. The death toll from week-long floods caused by a typhoon was at least 45. (Jay Directo/AFP/GettyImages) #

Workers repair a row of fallen electric poles in Wenling, China on August 8, 2012, after Typhoon Haikui made landfall. Haikui caused more than $1 billion in damage. (AFP/GettyImages) #

Pedestrians fight strong winds and heavy rainfall as Typhoon Haikui hits Shanghai on August 8, 2012. Typhoon Haikui forced China to evacuate nearly 2 million people. (Stringer/Reuters) #

A woman tries to recover a piece of furniture that is being washed away by the flood in Boca Del Rio on the outskirts of Veracruz on August 9, 2012. Tropical Storm Ernesto skirted the coast of the Gulf of Mexico. (Stringer/Reuters) #

Motorists maneuver through a flooded street in Hanoi on August 18, 2012 as Typhoon Kai-Tak barrelled across northern Vietnam. (Stringer/AFP/GettyImages) #

A man walks down a lane of water-damaged furniture from heavy rains brought by Typhoon Tembin in Pingtung county, Taiwan on August 24, 2012. (Associated Press) #

Student volunteers collect garbage washed ashore by the typhoon surge in Paranaque, Philippines on August 25, 2012. Over 500 tons of garbage washed up on shore. (Romeo Ranoco/Reuters) #

A boy shelters from the cold behind an appliance above floodwaters triggered by Tropical Storm Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on August 25, 2012. (Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press) #

Workers release a Kemp's ridley turtle into an indoor tank in Marathon, Fla. on August 25, 2012 from outside tanks for protection in anticipation of Tropical Storm Isaac on August 25, 2012. (Alan Diaz/Associated Press) #

Meteorologists Alycia Gilliland and Christopher Johnson of the Center For Severe Weather Research place instrumentation pods on top of a levee in Plaquemines Parish, La. before the landfall of Isaac on August 28, 2012. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press) #

People play in the storm surge from Hurricane Isaac along Lake Pontchartrain in New Orleans on August 28, 2012. (Gerald Herbert/Associated Press) #

A man plays in waves brought on by Typhoon Bolaven in Qingdao, China on August 28, 2012. (Stringer/AFP/GettyImages) #

Folko Weltzien, 38, kite surfs in high winds from Hurricane Isaac on August 26, 2012 in Miami. (Carl Juste/The Miami Herald/Associated Press) #

Blake Noblin paddles back to shore after helping his father Jeff Noblin gather boards from a neighbor's pier on East Beach as Hurricane Isaac approaches Ocean Springs, Mississippi on August 28, 2012. (Michael Spooneybarger/Reuters) #

National Hurricane Center Deputy Director Ed Rappaport (right) monitors a Hurricane Isaac coordinating conference call to prepare the 10 p.m. CT forecast on August 28, 2012, at the NHC in Miami. (Andy Newman/Associated Press) #

Police help remove a car after its owner parked it on the bank to watch waves brought on by Typhoon Bolaven in Qingdao, China on August 28, 2012. (Stringer/AFP/GettyImages) #

A farmer stands around fallen pears in his orchard following Typhoon Bolaven in Jeonju, South Korea on August 29, 2012. (Choi Young-soo/Yonhap/Associated Press) #

Keilani Brown, 8 months pregnant, is rescued from her home on a air bed in LaPlace, Louisiana by Walker Russell after Tropical Storm Isaac pushed water from lakes Pontchartrain and Maurepas into parts of LaPlace. (Arthur D. Lauck/The Advocate/Associated Press) #

Rosemary Beharry surveys the damage caused by a mudslide in the kitchen of her home in Carenage, Trinidad and Tobago following heavy showers caused by Tropical Storm Isaac on August 23, 2012. (Andrea De Silva/Reuters) #

Melanie Martinez pauses while salvaging items in her flooded home in Plaquemines Parish on September 3, 2012 in Braithwaite, Louisiana. This is the fifth home Martinez has had destroyed by hurricanes in Louisiana. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) #

Melanie Martinez displays a fish she found in her flooded home in Plaquemines Parish on September 3, 2012 in Braithwaite, Louisiana. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) #

A coffin is washed up onto the side of a levee from Hurricane Isaac flooding in Plaquemines Parish on September 3, 2012 in Braithwaite, Louisiana. (Mario Tama/Getty Images) #

South Korean Marines search for land mines swept from North Korea by a recent typhoon in Gimpo, South Korea on September 4, 2012. (Yun Tae-hyun/Yonhap/Associated Press) #

Winsky Pierre, 5, helps to drain mud from his flooded house after the passing of Tropical Storm Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on August 26, 2012. (Dieu Nalio Chery/Associated Press) #

A woman swims through flood waters driven by Tropical Storm Isaac in Port-au-Prince, Haiti on August 25, 2012. (Logan Abassi/MINUSTAH/Associated Press) #

A resident climbs along the wall as rain brought by Typhoon Sanba floods his house in Quezon City, Philippines on September 15, 2012. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters) #

A worker sleeps on a hammock above a flooded street during a heavy downpour brought by Typhoon Sanba in Quezon City, Philippines on September 15, 2012. (Cheryl Ravelo/Reuters) #

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