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

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Human factors that contributed to the scale of impacts

  • ^^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^^

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Characteristics of the typhoon

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

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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

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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

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How effective were the responses? SOMEWHAT

  • 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^^

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