Typhoon Haiyan 2013 Flashcards
Location
. The Philippines area series of islands located in the South China Sea, east of Vietnam and north of Indonesia
. Islands regularly suffer from considerable typhoons that sweep in from the south west every year during the tropical storm season
. Typhoon Haiyan originated from an area of low pressure in southeast of Pohnpei in Micronesia on November 2, 2013
. Moving generally westward, the system developed into a tropical depression the following day
. After becoming a tropical storm the system began a period of rapid intensification that brought it to typhoon intensity on November 5
. Haiyan is unofficially the fourth most intense tropical cyclone ever observed.
Philippines facts
. $4700 GDP per capita . Just under 30% living in poverty . 95% access to clean water . 72 life expectancy . Just under 50% literacy rate . 1.15 doctors per 1000 people
Date + time
. November 7th & 8th 2013
. Late afternoon and night time
Cause
. Since 1900, the waters have risen by about 20cm, on average, around the world, and the rate of increase has almost doubled over the past two decades. Higher seas have long been known disproportionately to contribute to greater storm surges.
.The recent rise near the Philippines has been the highest anywhere in the world, at three times larger than the global average, as natural changes in the winds have piled up the water.
. Abstracting too much groundwater has caused parts of the country to sink.
. Tacloban stands at the end of a bay that might have been designed to funnel water into destructive storm surges.
. Because of all this, a surge 4m high swept through the city, causing far more destruction, and killing far more people, than the winds themselves.
Social effects
. Killed 7500 people and affected 9 million people.
. The Philippines faced a humanitarian crisis days after the typhoon hit much of the Visayas with 1.9 million homeless and more than 6,000,000 displaced.
. The United Nations fear that the possibility of the spread of disease is high due to the lack of food, water, shelter, and medication.
. Casualties were reported as a result of the lack of aid in affected areas
. Areas less affected areas reported that their populations more than doubled after the typhoon with the influx of refugees into the city.
. 90% of Tacloban destroyed
Economic impacts
. The economic impact is estimated at $2.9 billion
. The major rice and sugar producing areas for the Philippines were destroyed.
. Coconuts account for nearly half the Philippines agricultural exports and the country is the world’s biggest producer of coconut oil.
. Between 50,000 tons and 120,000 tons of sugar may have been lost, the Sugar Regulatory Administration estimated.
. The Philippine government estimated that about 70,000 hectares (175,000 acres) of farmland were affected; 3.7 billion pesos ($85 million) was lost from farm damage.
. Around 130,000 tons of rice was lost, equivalent to a 1.8 per cent reduction in fourth quarter output, and about 4,000 tons of corn were destroyed.
. Tacloban airport terminal severely damaged
. 30,000 fishing boats destroyed
. 6 million lost source of income
Environmental impacts
. Environmental devastation and loss of forests, trees and widespread flooding.
. Oil and sewerage leaks into the local ecosystems.
. Lack of sanitation in days following the event also leads to a higher level of pollution.
. The Food and Agriculture Organisation (FAO) reports that hundreds of thousands of hectares of rice have been destroyed.
. Coconut plantations which are a big source of foreign currency were said to be “completely flattened”
. Fishing communities have also be severely affected with the storm destroying boats and associated equipment.
Political impact
. The Philippines formally declared “A State of National Calamity” and asked for international help, one day after the Haiyan hit the country.
. A week after the typhoon had struck, President Benigno Aquino was under growing pressure to speed up the distribution of networks or food, water and medicine to desperate survivors and to get paralysed local governments functioning.
. The Tacloban city government was decimated, with just 70 workers in the immediate days after the disaster compared to 2,500 normally. Many were killed, injured, lost family or were simply too traumatised to work.
. The United Nations has admitted its response to the typhoon disaster in the Philippines had been too slow, amid reports of hunger and thirst among desperate survivors.
Short term responses
. 4 million food given (OCHA)
. 500,000 households given basic emergency shelter materials (OCHA)
. 150 foreign medical teams coordinated with nearly 2,500 doctors, nurses etc. (WHO)
. 582 public health facilities assessed and mapped (WHO)
. 6 health cluster hubs established (WHO)
. 500 tons of medical supplies and equipments coordinated (WHO)
. ADB (Asian development bank) provided $23 millions in grants to address immediate needs
. World vision - 123,000 families food, 17,000 shelter kits
. US aircraft carrier George Washington and its helicopters conducted a search and rescue mission and delivered aid.
. 1200 evacuation centres were set up for the homeless.
Long term responses
. 44,00 families given seeds, 80,000 given fertiliser - will feed 800,000 per year (OCHA)
. 420,000 children given educational materials, 140,000 temporary learning sites (OCHA)
. 97,000 children screened for malnutrition (OCHA)
. 55, 000 given tools and materials to rebuild homes (OCHA)
. 50,000 families received solar lateens (OCHA)
. Around 110,000 children vaccinated against measles (WHO)
. $500 million emergency loan to reconstruct communities (ADB) - interest
. World vision build back better
. Build back better aimed to build 205,000 homes but by 2016 only 1% had be built
. Cyclone shelters have been built in coastal areas.
. Thousands of new homes have been built away from areas at risk of coastal flooding.
