Case Study: Typoon Haiyan 2013

Question 1

Background & Causes

Answer 1

• Global warming increased sea levels, especially in the Philippines where sea levels are 3 times greater than most places. This lead to more severe storm surges
• The storm made land fall as a category 5 on 3 different islands, the worst affected being Leyte
• Abstraction of ground water caused parts of the island to sink, further increasing sea levels
• The town of Tacloban was built in a bay that funnelled storm surges

Question 2

Effects

Answer 2

• Storm surges up to 4 metres high swept through Tacloban
• 7500 people were killed, and a million affected
• Estimated cost of $1.9 billion
• 1.9 million made homeless, and 6,000,000 displaced
• 71,000 hectares of farmland affected. $85 million lost from damage
• 50,000 - 120,000 tons of sugar lost
• Spread of disease is likely due to lack of sanitation

Question 3

Responses

Answer 3

• The WHO vaccinated 108,783 children against measles, coordinated 500 tons of medical equipment, opened 582 public health facilities, and over 150 foreign medical teams.
• OCHA gave 4 million people food assistance, and gave 44,000 families seeds and 80,000 fertiliser that will feed 800,000 per year. 420,000 children received educational materials and 140,000 received temporary teaching sites. 500,000 households received basic emergency shelter materials
• The ABD provided $23 million in grants and $500 million in loans, as-well as response teams