🌋Case Study - Philippines Multihazardous Flashcards
What hazards does the Philippines endure?
Droughts
Earthquakes
Floods
Tropical Storms
Volcanoes
Wildfires
What is the most frequent hazard event in the Philippines?
Tropical cyclones
What percentage of all disasters in South East Asia occur in the Philippines?
30%
Where does the Philippines rank on the list of most exposed countries in the world?
8th
How many volcanoes does the Philippines have?
220
How many typhoons does the Philippines have a year?
Around 20, 5-7 of which are destructive
What are floods triggered by?
Frequent typhoons
What is the annual damage expected to cost?
£3 million
What is the NDCC?
The National Disaster Co-ordinating Council
How is climate change affecting the Philippines?
It is seeing longer periods of drought and El Nino, causing a drop in agricultural production and GDP
What has increased as a result of declining forest cover in the Philippines?
Flash flooding and landslides
What does the NDCC do?
It is responsible for disaster preparedness, prevention and mitigation, an inter agency organisation
How is the UNDP involved in the Philippines?
It is involved in hazard mapping and assessing the impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards
What is PHIVOLCS?
An institution dedicated to providing information on activity of volcanoes, earthquakes and tsunamis in the Philippines
Why does the Philippines experience volcanic hazards?
It is on the boundary between the Eurasian and Philippine Plates
How have people histroically adapted their homes to cope with disaster?
Building them out of palm and bamboo so that they were easily rebuilt and less likely to injure people in earthquakes and storms
What do Philippine farmers focus on?
Reduction of crop loss rather than efficiency or yield due to famine
How do farmers help to minimise crop losses?
By encouraging crop diversity so that there is secure food source during times of climatic change
What types of plants are commonly planted in the area?
sweet potato, garlic and onions as they grow underground so are usually unaffected by events above ground
How many people were killed by the 1991 Pinatubo eruption?
Between 900 and 1000
How have communities in the Philippines adapted?
More self reliant
Dependent on their own resources
Less likely to look to the government for help
What can happen at the plate boundary?
The plates can become locked as the Philippine plate is subducted
What was set up in 2009?
The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council
What does the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council do?
Responsible for ensuring the protection and welfare of people during disasters
What was produced in 2018?
A comprehensive hazard risk management handbook, it was distributed widely
Which organisations does the Philippines have partnerships with?
The Red Cross
Federal Agricultural Organisation
ActionAid
Asian Development Bank
Why does the Philippines location make it vulnerable to so many natural disasters?
Lies on Pacific belt
Earthquakes, volcanoes, etc
Name some of the hazards it’s exposed to
Drought
Seismic Activity
Epidemic
Flood
Insect Infestation
Storms
Volcanoes
Wildfires
How much of the land is exposed to hazards?
How much of the population is this?
60%
74% of the population
Resilience: How are the community resilient?
Fatalism
Used to coping with aftermath
Worth risk i.e. fertile soils
Prepare- stockpile food, widen rivers to reduce flood risk
Adaptation: 4 main ways to adapt
Building Codes
Early Warning Systems
READY
Building Embankments
Adaptation: Building Codes
Better quality, cope with hazards i.e. stilts for flooding
But many residents live in informal accommodation
Adaptation: Early Warning Systems
Doppler Radars
Accurate weather forecasts, improves typhoon warning
Adaptation: READY
Funded by AusAID
Establish hazard maps- don’t build in high risk areas etc.
Adaptation: Building Embankments
Reduces flood risk
From tsunamis, storms surge
Mitigation: 3 organisations
National Disaster Coordinating Council
Department of Education
TV Campaigns
Mitigation: National Disaster Coordinating Council
Responsible for preparedness, prevention, mitigation
Utilises calamity fund
Ensures all agencies follow same plan
Engages public through workshops
Mitigation: Department of Education
Cover disaster preparedness in curriculum
Helps spread awareness
Mitigation: TV Campaigns
Spreads information on disaster awareness
Not all disaster prone areas have TVs
Management: Local Government
. Speak on behalf of residents
. First responder in emergency
. Get advice on how to improve hazard response
. Educated on how to interpret hazard maps and weather forecasts
. Makes use of resources to protect population
Management: How much of local government income set aside for post disaster relief, reconstruction, mitigation?
5%
Don’t have to submit a report on how it’s used
Difficult to evaluate effectiveness
How many islands make it up?
7000
How large is the vulnerable population?
98 million
GDP and what does this mean?
Only $4700 per year so mitigation spending is limited
What is plate zone like?
Located on a destructive plate zone + subduction zone
How many deadly earthquakes occurred between 1900 and 2011, how many were killed and how much was the damage?
22 deadly earthquakes killing over 9500 people and causing $230 million in damage
What type of volcano?
Stratocone volcano
Cost of eruption damage since 1900?
$2.3 billion
How many deadly volcanos have there been since 1900?
22
Tropical storm example
Typhoon Haiyan
How many storms since 1900?
257
Why doesn’t the government protect against all hazards?
. Not possible to protect against all hazards due to high frequency + different hazard types
. Don’t have the money
. One protection measure against a hazard may encourage another
What did the Management Act of 2010 shift
The government’s focus from emergency relief to disaster risk reduction and prevention
The climate experiment project
. Software that calculates the % chance of rain (PCOR)
. Uses infrared and water vapor satellite image data
. Uses Doppler Radar data and statistical evaluation of historical rainfall
Philippine Geoportal
Advocates the use of standard multi-scale base maps for strategic planning, decision making, situational analysis and other common requirements
