Typhoon Billie was the first typhoon officially monitored by the Joint Typhoon Warning Center. The storm brought floods to several East Asian countries in July 1959. Billie developed from a tropical disturbance west of Kiribati on July 12. Situated within favorable conditions, the system quickly reached tropical storm intensity before strengthening further to typhoon status a day after formation. Intensification continued until Billie reached its peak intensity on July 14 east of Taiwan with maximum sustained winds of 165 km/h (105 mph) and a minimum barometric pressure of 970 mbar (hPa; 28.64 inHg). Slight weakening occurred before the typhoon made landfall on Zhejiang in China on July 16. After tracking inland, Billie curved northward and moved over the Yellow Sea before making a final landfall on North Korea on July 17; the storm transitioned into an extratropical cyclone shortly afterwards before dissipating over the Sea of Japan a day later. The rainbands of Billie brought severe flooding to the Philippines and Japan even while the typhoon's center was well removed from those locations. In the Philippines, one person was killed, and the flood damage totaled US$500,000. Floods were particularly destructive in Japan, where they destroyed 603 homes in the western portion of the country. Swaths of crops were inundated by the floodwaters, and 44 people were killed. Extensive flooding occurred in Taiwan and China, and seven deaths occurred in the former. In Busan, South Korea, Billie's effects forced the evacuation of thousands of people through tight corridors from a stadium, causing the indirect deaths of 61 people. Meteorological history Beginning on July 9, the Joint Typhoon Warning Center (JTWC) began dispatching aircraft reconnaissance to investigate an area of thunderstorms between Yap State and Koror that had potential to develop into a tropical cyclone. Tracking westward, there were few signs of organization or intensification until July 12, when recon found a closed atmospheric circulation within the disturbance, signifying that a tropical depression had developed; JTWC bulletins and warnings commenced accordingly. Upon development, observations indicated that the system was quickly developing in favorable conditions, with initial reconnaissance flights finding a loose eye measuring 160 km (100 mi) in diameter shortly after classification as a tropical depression. Twelve hours later, the JTWC upgraded the cyclone to tropical storm status, assigning the name Billie. At 1200 UTC on July 13, the JTWC upgraded Billie further to typhoon status, making Billie the first tropical cyclone