Ellis Island
During and immediately following World War II, Ellis Island was used to hold German merchant mariners and "enemy aliens"—Axis nationals detained for fear of spying, sabotage, and other fifth column activity. In December 1941, Ellis Island held 279 Japanese, 248 Germans, and 81 Italians removed from the East Coast. Unlike other wartime immigration detention stations, Ellis Island was designated as a permanent holding facility and was used to hold foreign nationals throughout the war. A total of 7,000 Germans, Italians and Japanese would be ultimately detained at Ellis Island. It was also a processing center for returning sick or wounded U.S. soldiers, and a Coast Guard training base. Ellis Island still managed to process tens of thousands of immigrants per year during this time, but many fewer than the hundreds of thousands per year who arrived before the war. After the war, immigration rapidly returned to earlier levels.
1979 Pacific typhoon season
A tropical disturbance was first noted on satellite and synoptic data on June 25. The disturbance was upgraded to a tropical depression about 670 nautical miles east of Manila on July 1. It rapidly intensified into a tropical storm and moved west-northwest. Ellis was in a favorable position at that time and steady intensification occurred over the next 2 days. Ellis intensified into a typhoon on July 2 and reached its peak intensity of 100 mph on later that day. Continued intensification was anticipated at that time, but a slow weakening trend was actually observed. The storm passed close to the northern tip of Luzon on July 4 and caused damage to tobacco-rich regions of the Philippines. Ellis then entered the South China Sea and weakened to a severe tropical storm while still moving west-northwest. Ellis made landfall on the Chinese coast on July 6 about 164 nautical miles southwest of Hong Kong and dissipated rapidly over land thereafter. Damage caused by Ellis in Hong Kong was minimal.