WhereIsAtlas · Natural disaster

Typhoon Ike (Nitang)

The 1984 typhoon that killed 1,363 people in the central Philippines

Concluded — Typhoon Ike crossed the central Philippines from 31 August to 4 September 1984 and killed 1,363 people, with a higher figure of 3,000 given in the same reference. It is the second-deadliest typhoon in typhoon2000's list of the twenty deadliest Philippine typhoons from 1947 to 2009.

Typhoon Ike crossed the central Philippines between 31 August and 4 September 1984, and is remembered there as Nitang. typhoon2000's table of the twenty deadliest Philippine typhoons from 1947 to 2009 puts it second, behind only Tropical Storm Thelma of 1991, and records the areas it struck as Surigao, Bohol, Cebu and Negros.

The toll is the part that resists settling. The same table gives 1,363 deaths and then shows 3,000 in parentheses beside it, and separate accounts put the figure as high as 1,492. This entry states the 1,363 and the alternatives rather than choosing one, because the difference is not a rounding error and the sources do not resolve it.

What is not in dispute is the shape of the event: a storm that formed in the Pacific, crossed the central islands, and left damage across four provinces at once. The Philippines sits in the most active typhoon belt in the world — around twenty tropical cyclones enter its waters in a typical year — and Ike is one of the two occasions in the modern record when that exposure produced a four-figure death toll.

Timeline

  1. August 31, 1984 — Four days over the central islands: The storm crosses Surigao, Bohol, Cebu and Negros — the areas typhoon2000 records as struck.
  2. September 4, 1984 — The crossing ends: The last of four days over the islands, according to typhoon2000's record of the twenty deadliest Philippine typhoons of 1947 to 2009.
  3. 1,363 or 3,000 — The toll that never settled: The same reference gives 1,363 deaths and shows 3,000 in parentheses beside it; separate accounts reach 1,492. Second on its list, behind only Thelma in 1991.
  4. Today — Two numbers, still standing: This entry carries both figures rather than choosing, because the sources do not resolve them.

Quick facts

Local name
Nitang
Dates
31 August – 4 September 1984
Deaths recorded
1,363 (a higher figure of 3,000 appears beside it)
Rank
2nd in typhoon2000's 20 deadliest Philippine typhoons, 1947–2009
Areas struck
Surigao, Bohol, Cebu, Negros
Country
Philippines

Sources

  1. 20 Deadliest Philippine Typhoons (1947–2009) — typhoon2000.ph (2026-10-30)
  2. 15 Worst Typhoons of Visayas, Philippines — typhoon2000.ph (2026-10-30)
  3. Deadliest, most destructive cyclones of the Philippines — Philstar (2026-10-30)
  4. Typhoon Ike — Wikipedia (2026-10-30)