Typhoon Haiyan case study

Physical causes

* Surrounded by Pacific Ocean where temperatures are above ^^23°C^^
* Cluster of thunderstorms in the region in ^^November 2013^^
* ^^Light wind sheer^^, keeping the storm structure in tact
* ^^Small islands^^ that couldn’t absorb the storm’s energy

Human factors that contributed to scale of damage

* ^^Low level of development^^ in the Philippines affected the country’s ability to cope with natural disasters of this scale
* Much of the country lives in ^^extreme poverty^^
* ^^Rapid population growth^^, particularly in vulnerable coastal areas (e.g ^^in Tacloban the population grew from 76,000 to 221,000 in 40 years^^)
* Buildings and storm shelters are ^^poorly constructed^^

Characteristics

* Violent
* Ferocious winds - ^^320 km/h^^ - made ^^landfall at its peak^^
* ^^400mm^^ of rain
* Waves as big as ^^15m^^ tall

Impacts

**Environmental**

* ^^Soil erosion and loss of vegetation^^

**Economic** 

* Estimated economic damage of ^^$2.86 billion^^
* Other primary industries damages (e.g ^^fishing boats and coconut trees - the Philippines is one of the world’s largest produces of coconuts^^)
* ^^130,000 tonnes^^ of rice ruined

**Social**

* ^^11.5 million^^ people affected
* At least ^^6300^^ dead
* ^^1800^^ declared missing
* ^^670,000^^ made homeless 
* ^^90%^^ of houses in Tacloban demolished
* ^^130,000^^ houses destroyed

Responses

* UK government provided food, shelter, clean water, medicine and other supplies for up to ^^800,000 victims^^
* Several charities provided ^^emergency aid^^ (water, food and shelter)
* ^^Repaired fishing boats for distributing rice seeds^^
* UN launched and international aid appeal in December 2013 for ^^£480 million^^ to finance the humanitarian relief effort for 2014

Evaluation of responses

* Helped a lot of people to get food, water, shelter in the ^^short term^^
* Some places were unable to be reached due to the amount of damage and help needed, meaning it was ^^not effective long term^^