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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