Typhoon Haiyan case study

• Primary effects


  • Strong winds battered homes
  • People were made homeless, particularly around Western and Eastern Visayas
  • Electric was interrupted
  • Airport badly damaged
  • Roads were blocked by fallen trees and other debris
  • Leyte and Tacloban experienced a 5-metre storm surge, and 400mm of rainfall flooded an area of up to 1km inland
  • 90% of Tacloban was destroyed
  • 6190 people died
  • 29,000 people were injured
  • 4.1 million people were made homeless
  • 14.1 million people affected
  • The overall cost of damage was around $12 billion
  • 1.1 million tonnes of crops destroyed
  • 1.1 million houses damaged
  • 1 million farmers and 600,000 hectares of farmland affected
• Secondary effects


  • Infection and diseases spread, mainly due to contaminated surface and ground water
  • Survivors fought for food and supplies. Eight people died in a stampede for food supplies
  • Power supplies were cut off for months in some areas
  • Education was disrupted as many schools were destroyed
  • Seawater, chemicals and sewerage contaminated surface and groundwater
  • An oil tanker ran aground, causing an 800,000-litre oil leak that contaminated fishing waters
  • The airport was badly damaged and roads were blocked by debris and trees
  • Looting was rife, due to the lack of food and supplies
  • Rice prices had risen by nearly 12% by 2014
  • The leak from the oil barge led to ten hectares of mangroves being contaminated
  • Flooding caused landslides
• Immediate responses


  1. The government issued a televised warning to people to prepare and evacuate

  2. Eight hundred thousand people were evacuated following a televised warning by the president

  3. The government provided essential equipment and medical supplies

  4. A curfew was introduced two days after the typhoon to reduce looting

  5. Over 1,200 evacuation centres were set up to help the homeless

  6. Three days after the storm, the main airport was reopened, and emergency aid arrived

  7. Power was restored in some regions after a week

  8. One million food packs and 250,000 litres of water were distributed within two weeks

  9. Over $1.5 billion of foreign aid was pledged. Thirty-three countries and international organisations promised help, with rescue operations and an estimated US $ 88.871 million
• Long-term responses


  1. A cash for work programme paid people to clear debris and rebuild Tacloban

  2. The international charity organisation Oxfam replaced fishing boats

  3. Build Back Better is the government's response to the typhoon. Launched in 2014, it intended to upgrade damaged buildings to protect them from future disasters

  4. They have also set up a no-build zone along the coast in Eastern Visayas, a new storm surge warning system has been developed, and mangroves replanted to absorb future storm surges
• happened in 8th of November 2013 at 4 am