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 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^^

Characteristics of the typhoon

• 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

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^^