2009 Pacific Tropical Cyclone Season Far from the Worst

While the Philippines are dealing with one of their worst typhoon seasons ever as far as damage and loss of life, deaths and damages are dwarfed by the 2006 Tropical Cyclone Season in the West Pacific Basin.

More than 850 people have been killed by two typhoons that have hit the Philippines this season.

Typhoon Parma caused at least $250 million in agricultural damage in the Philippines, including irrigation facilities and 70,000 tons of crops and the loss of thousands of livestock and poultry.

However, while the 2009 season is not yet over, it has a long way to go as far as coming close to the losses inflicted during the 2006 typhoon season.

Below is a list of the West Pacific Typhoons and losses suffered back through 2006: 2006- $35.8 billion, around 2,700 deaths 2007- $6.3 billion, nearly 400 deaths, 189 still missing.

2008- $5.8 billion, around 1,700 deaths 2009- $5.6 billion, around 1,600 deaths, 26 missing.

Now a look at the East Pacific Hurricanes and losses suffered back through 2006: 2006- $355 million, 14 deaths 2007- $80 million, 9 deaths 2008- $767.1 million, 23 deaths 2009- $373.3 million, 8 deaths The reasons for the much lower losses in the Eastern Pacific Basin has to do with the nature of the movement of most tropical cyclones (hurricanes) in that area. Most of the storms move away from land, rather than on toward the Mexico, Central America or California coasts. Mexico makes up the bulk of the relatively small number of tropical cyclones that hit the west coast of North America.

Southeast Asia is a much more heavily populated part of the globe, compared to the west coast of Mexico. While some of the tropical cyclones (typhoons) recurve before hitting land, a substantial number plow westward into China, Vietnam and the Philippines, or northward into Japan and Korea.

Story by AccuWeather.com Expert Senior Meteorologist Alex Sosnowski. Gina Cherundolo and Carly Porter contributed to the content of this story.