Effects (Typhoon Haiyan)

• Primary effects are the immediate impacts of strong winds, high rainfall and storm surges
• Secondary effects are the impacts that occur later on after the storm has passed
• Primary Impacts of Tropical Storms

  • Buildings and bridges are destroyed
  • Roads, railways, ports, and airports are damaged
  • Electricity lines are damaged/destroyed
  • Gas lines broken
  • Sewage overflows
  • Rivers and coastal areas flooded
• Secondary Impacts of Tropical Storms

  • People are homeless, causing distress, poverty, ill-health or death due to lack of shelter. Cost of rebuild can be expensive and some people may not have insurance
  • Blocked or destroyed roads prevent rescue and emergency vehicles, and aid from getting through
  • Life support systems, hospitals, shops and homes left without power supplies
  • Risk of fires and explosions
  • Clean water supplies contaminated bringing increased risk of water bore diseases and death
  • Crops, livestock and habitats destroyed, leading to shortage of food and potentially famine
  • Businesses destroyed, economic impact to business owners and potential unemployment
• The more settlements and businesses there are, the greater the impacts of the storm because there are more people and properties to be affected by a tropical storm
• Immediate Responses to Tropical Storms

  • Evacuation of people before the tropical storm arrives
  • When a tropical storm is forecasted (predicted) to hit an area
  • As the tropical storm is happening
  • Immediately after the tropical storm has passed
• Long-term Responses to Tropical Storms

  • Restoring an area to past conditions
  • Reducing the impact of future storms
• Improve long-term forecasting techniques to give people more time to evacuate in the future
• Coastal areas flooded, people drown or injured through rushing water
• Crops, livestock and habitats destroyed, leading to shortage of food and potentially famine
• Businesses destroyed, economic impact to business owners and potential unemployment
• Immediate Responses


  • When a tropical storm is forecasted (predicted) to hit an area
  • As the tropical storm is happening
  • Immediately after the tropical storm has passed
• Long-term Responses


  • Restoring an area to past conditions
  • Reducing the impact of future storms
• Immediate Responses


  1. Evacuation of people before the tropical storm arrives

  2. Rescue people before the storm cuts people off from flooding and treat injured people

  3. Recover any dead bodies to reduce and prevents water and air borne diseases

  4. Set up temporary shelters for the homeless and post notices where they are being housed for missing family members

  5. Provide temporary supplies of power, food and water and restore communication systems as soon as possible

  6. Overseas aid may be sent in the form of workers, supplies, equipment or financial donations

  7. Tech companies encouraged to set up disaster response tools to let people confirm their safety, report damaged areas and alert about risk areas
• Long-term Responses


  1. Improve long-term forecasting techniques to give people more time to evacuate in the future

  2. Provide aid, grants or subsidies to residents to repair and strengthen their properties

  3. Repair and improve flood defences - flood gates, levees etc.

  4. Repair homes or rehouse people who have lost their homes or been damaged

  5. Repair, replace and improve infrastructure

  6. Improve building regulations so that more buildings withstand the impacts of tropical storms or change planning rules to restrict homes being built in risk areas

  7. Encourage economic recovery in the area and encourage people to return with incentives or tax breaks
• Typhoon Haiyan (locally called Yolanda) was one of the strongest ever-recorded tropical storm to hit the Philippines
• Typhoon Haiyan made landfall on the 8th of November 2013 as a Category 5, with sustained winds of over 195 mph (315 km/hr)
• The Philippines are a series of islands located in the South China Sea, east of Vietnam and north of Indonesia
• The islands regularly suffer from typhoons that sweep in from the southwest every year during the tropical storm season
• The islands sit in an area of usually warm ocean water, however, at time of storm, the sea temperature was 30°C
• Sea level rise (since 1900, has increased 20cm around the world) is a factor as higher seas are known to contribute to greater storm surges
• Abstracting too much groundwater has caused parts of the country to sink
• Tacloban stands at the end of a bay that is funnel shaped and this squeezes water into destructive storm surges
• Typhoon Haiyan's Characteristics


  • Lowest pressure: 895 mb
  • Peak strength: Category 5
  • Strength at landfall: Category 5 with 195 mph winds
  • Highest sustained wind speed: 196 mph
  • Radius of typhoon strength winds: 53 miles
  • Rainfall: 400 mm
  • Storm surge height: 5-6 m
• Total economic loss from Typhoon Haiyan was $13 billion
• 1.1 million homes were damaged or destroyed by Typhoon Haiyan
• 4 million people were displaced by Typhoon Haiyan
• 6201 people died as a result of Typhoon Haiyan
• 1785 people were missing after Typhoon Haiyan
• 28,626 people were injured as a result of Typhoon Haiyan
• 16 million people were affected by Typhoon Haiyan
• Short-term Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

  • 6201 people died
  • 1.1 million homes lost
  • more than 4 million displaced
  • Casualties 28,626 from lack of aid
  • 16 million people affected
  • UN admitted its response was too slow, amid reports of hunger/thirst among survivors
  • UN feared possibility of the spread of disease, lack of food, water, shelter and medication
  • Areas less affected; influx of refugees into the area
  • Two months later, 21,000 families were still in 380 evacuation centres, waiting to be rehoused by the government in bunkhouses that needed to be built
• Long-term Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

  • Estimated economic loss of $13 billion
  • Major sugar/rice producing areas were destroyed
  • Between 50,000 and 120,000 tonnes of sugar was lost
  • Over 130,000 tonnes of rice were lost
  • Government estimated that 175,000 acres of farmland was damaged (worth $85 million)
  • The Philippines declared 'a state of national calamity'
  • President Aquino was under growing pressure to speed up the distribution of food/water/medicine
  • Tacloban city was decimated
  • Debt is a major obstacle for the Philippines, the country is locked in a debt cycle, with more than 20% of government revenue spent on foreign debt repayments
  • Loss of forests/trees, and widespread flooding
  • Oil and sewage leaks; into local ecosystems
  • Lack of sanitation in days following lead to a higher level of pollution
  • Coconut plantations were said to be 'completely flattened' (coconut equated to nearly half of the Philippines agricultural exports / is the world's biggest producer of coconut oil
  • Fishing communities were severely affected
  • An estimated 90 per cent of the rural population in typhoon-affected areas are small-scale farmers
  • With 33 million coconut trees felled, international help has been sought to mill the 15 million tons of timber, lying rotting on the ground, attracting pests that threatened healthy trees
  • Without a crop, families would not have cash to enable local markets to function
• Short-term Response to Typhoon Haiyan

  1. The Philippines declared 'a state of national calamity', asked for international the next day

  2. The UN donated financial aid, supplies and medical support

  3. International aid agencies responded quickly with food, water and temporary shelters

  4. 5 days went by before any aid was received and only 20% of victims received aid

  5. The Philippines Red Cross delivered basic food aid e.g. rice & canned food

  6. UN admitted its response was too slow

  7. UK sent shelter kits to provide emergency shelter for a family

  8. Over 1200 evacuation centres set up for the homeless

  9. 'Cash for Work' schemes gave locals money to help clear the debris

  10. The French, Belgian and Israeli's set up field hospitals to help the injured

  11. Oxfam helped finance replacement of the fishing boats

  12. $475 million sent as aid and US sent 13,000 soldiers
• Long-term Response to Typhoon Haiyan

  1. Rebuilding of the airport, ports, roads and bridges

  2. Increased number of cyclone shelters have been built further away from coastal areas

  3. Worked to finance replacement of the fishing boats