Tropical storms and typhoon Haiyan

Question 1

How do tropical storms form?

Answer 1

• they begin as thunderstorms
• the air above the surface of the warm tropical oceans is heated causing air to rise rapidly under the low-pressure conditions
• the warm air from thunderstorms and deep warm ocean surface above 27 degrees combine and rise to create low pressure
• the warm air continues to rise and sucks in more air with large volumes of moisture from the oceans, creating strong winds
• warm humid air rises, cools and condenses to form large cumulonimbus clouds which generates torrential rainfall, the latent heat given off as the air cools is what powers the air to spiral
• becomes a hurricane when there are sustained winds of 73mph

Question 2

How does the eye of the storm form?

Answer 2

• cold air descends at the centre of the hurricane (the eye), here there are calm conditions with no clouds in the centre, and a spinning vortex of clouds, high winds and heavy rain surrounding it. Therefore the eye is drier and calmer

Question 3

Why do tropical storms spin anticlockwise?

Answer 3

the Coriolis force generated by the rotation of the earth which creates a calm central eye

Question 4

What happens when tropical storms reach land?

Answer 4

• tropical storms travel across the oceans in trade winds
• if the tropical storm meets land, it is no longer fuelled by the moisture and heat from the ocean, so the storm will lose power and weaken

Question 5

What conditions are needed for tropical storms to form?

Answer 5

• deep ocean
• high temperatures (sea above 27 degrees)
• low wind shear
• uniform wind direction - trade winds

Question 6

How prepared were the Philippines for typhoon Haiyaan?

Answer 6

• LIC but still have many adaptive and mitigative strategies
• publication of risk maps
• providing evacuation shelters

Question 7

What were the immediate preparation responses before typhoon haiyaan hit?

Answer 7

• on November 6th, PAGASA issued a low level public storm warning which was raised to the highest level within 24 hours
• when Haiyan first made landfall, the international charter on space and major disasters was activated which allowed relief agencies to have access to satellite data to help with relief and recovery
• military deployed planes and helicopters in advance to areas that were expected to be worst hit
• evacuations of the whole island - over 1000 evacuated

Question 8

What were the immediate impacts of typhoon Haiyan?

Answer 8

• worst hit area was the low-lying Eastern Visayas with flooding up to 1 km inland
• All buildings not made of concrete were destroyed
• The main evacuation centre -
  Tacloban City Convention Centre - became a death trap because the
  storm surge entered the hall where people were sheltering
• large ships were washed ashore, cars overturned and the airport destroyed which made rescue efforts very difficult
• farming and fishing industries were destroyed leaving 10,000 without a source of income

Question 9

What were the immediate responses to typhoon Haiyan?

Answer 9

• The governmental response was criticised for being slow and people turned to looting to find food supplies - Although the roads were undamaged, debris on them meant that
  rescue was slow. The airport and harbours were closed so emergency teams had to travel slowly on foot, hampering aid distribution.
• The European Commission released $4m in emergency funds and the UK Rapid Response Facility provided $8m in aid.
• A major part of preparedness by the Red Cross was the message of good hygiene and clean water, which was a priority in the immediate response plan.

Question 10

Why were the effects of typhoon Haiyan particularly damaging?

Answer 10

• The country faced particular problems because a month earlier, in October 2013, the country experienced its most deadly earthquake (7.2 Richter scale) for 23 years. In 2012, Typhoon Bopha had ravaged parts of the southern Philippines. These 2 disasters meant that as a nation, resilience was low as resources, financial, material and human, were stretched.
• Debt is a major obstacle for the Philippines in their efforts to become more resilient. The Philippines have been excluded from international
  debt relief schemes as the annual per capita income is regarded as being too high

Question 11

What were the long-term impacts of typhoon Haiyan?

Answer 11

• A month after Haiyan, 100,000 remained in evacuation centres, and another 4 million were displaced in temporary homes.
• 324,000 households were given materials for emergency shelters, and work began on rebuilding 30,000 homes with higher design standards

Question 12

What schemes were put into place after typhoon haiyaan to make quality of life on the park model overall better?

Answer 12

• “One Stop Shop teams” where representatives of governmental departments administered imported
  humanitarian goods, equipment and transport, customs and taxes. This sped the release of aid into the
  communities.
• Cash-for-work programmes, such as day-labourers to clear the debris, were set up as an efficient way of allowing people to take charge of their own priorities and in turn restart a local economy.
• The “build back safer” campaign - however it will take 3-4 years, especially for remote areas that suffered more wind damage than floods.
• 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.

Question 13

Why may quality of life have not returned back to normal for many after typhoon Haiyan?

Answer 13

• Due to the lack of materials, many people immediately started to rebuild in a way less safe than before Haiyan, hence the need for rapid distribution of materials and technical help.
  Haiyan, hence the need for rapid distribution of materials and technical help.