File:Chanchu 2006-05-08 - 2006-05-12 TRMM Rainfall.jpg
Though not a particularly powerful storm, Chanchu was responsible for 8 reported deaths as of May 14, 2006, six of which occurred when a boat capsized while traveling between islands, according to news reports. Chanchu became a tropical depression on May 9, 2006, east of the main southern island, Mindanao. The system then organized into a tropical storm and moved west-northwest before making landfall on the island of Samar in the central Philippines on the evening of May 11 as a Category 1 typhoon. Chanchu regained strength, briefly becoming a Category 2 storm, as it passed between the central islands before hitting Mindoro Island and weakening somewhat.
TRMM is a joint mission between NASA and the Japanese space agency, JAXA. Since its launch in 1997, TRMM has provided valuable information on tropical storms. With an active radar and a passive microwave sensor, TRMM can peer into the core of these storms and relay details on storm structure and location to forecasters.