Typhoon Haiyan (Case study tropical storms)

Background of Typhoon Haiyan

Occurred on 8th November 2013 at 4:40am. Hit Tacloban city the worst made landfall in Samar, lasted about 9 days. Formed Nov 2nd and dissipated Nov 11th

Nature of typhoon

Philippines sits in a seasonally warm ocean was around 30^oC, rising sea levels led to higher storm surge, typhoon around 380 miles

Primary effects

• Over 6,000 killed and 28,000 injured

• Food and water shortages

• ~4 million displaced

• $2.4b lost in agriculture

• Trees and mangroves destroyed

• Water contaminated

Secondary effects

• Large amounts of homelessness

• Psychological trauma

• Long-term damage to tourism and agriculture

• Soil salination reduced farm production

Immediate responses

• Search and rescue operation by military

• International aid ~$788 million

• UK supplied 886,000 with clean water and food supplies

• Temporary shelters

• 800,000 evacuated before landfall

Long-term responses

• Reconstruction of homes, schools and hospitals

• Cash-for work programs to help residents earn an income again

• Improved early warning and disaster preparedness system

Mitigation

• Improved storm warning systems

• Better disaster planning

• More cyclone shelters

• Stronger building codes

What problems did the storm surge cause and how large was it

The 5-6m storm surge resulted in the most deaths, entire coastal districts were wiped.

There were warnings of the storm surge but residents were not familiar with the term and the severity of the storm surge was not understood, as well as many evacuation centres being located in low areas which led to a higher death toll.