TYPHOON HAIYAN casestudy - tropical storm example Flashcards
where did it happen?
The Philippines - series of islands located in the South China Sea, east of Vietnam and north of Indonesia
The islands regularly suffer from considerable typhoons that sweep in from the south west every year during the tropical storm season
location of the typhoon
Originated from an area of low pressure several hundred kilometres east-southeast of Pohnpei in the Federated States of Micronesia on 2nd of November 2013
Moving generally westward, the system developed into a tropical depression on the following day
KEY FACTS GDP per capita People living on less than $2 a day Access to clean water Life expectancy Literacy rate
$4700 27% of the population 95.4% of the population 72 years 48.7%
When did it happen? And duration?
7th and 8th, November, 2013
Late afternoon and night time
The tropical depression was first tracked on 2nd November and continued to grow - by 7th it was the most powerful tropical storm ever recorded
WHY did it happen ?
sits in an area of usually warm ocean water (at time of storm was 30°c) (sea temps over 27°c with rotating winds over the ocean’s surface, due to Coriolis Force)
Sea level rising (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 might have been designed to funnel water into destructive storm surges.
SOCIAL IMPACTS of the typhoon
Mainly SHORT term
- 7500 people died - 9 million people
- typhoon hit much of the Visayas; 1.9 million homeless; more than 6 million displaced
- casualties (LONG & SHORT term) from lack of aid
- 1 million homes destroyed
SOCIAL IMPACTS of the typhoon
Mainly LONG term
- UN fear possibility of the spread of disease; lack of food, water, shelter and medication
- areas less affected; influx of refugees into the area
ECONOMIC IMPACTS
- estimated at $20 billion
- major sugar/rice producing areas were destroyed; between 50,000 and 120,000 tons of sugar was lost and over 130,000 tonnes of rice was lost
- gov. estimated that 175,000 acres of farmland was damaged (worth $85 million)
ENVIRONMENTAL DAMAGES
- 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 eqcuated to nearly half of the Philippines agricultural exports / is the world’s biggest producer of coconut oil
- fishing communities were severely affected
POLITICAL IMPACTS (mainly long term)
- the philippines declared ‘a state of national calamity’; asked for international help the next day
- President Aquino was under growing pressure to speed up the distribution of food/water/medicine
- Tacloban city gov. was decimated (70 works in days after compared to 2500 normally)
- UN admitted its response was too slow, amid reports of hunger/thirst among survivors
characteristics of storm
- most powerful cyclone to ever make landfall
- sustained winds of 195mph; unusual intensity
- caused storm surge equivalent to 13ft tsunami
response to the typhoon
- 5 days without aid
- $475 million of aid
- US sent 13,000 soldiers
- only 20% of the victims received aid
storm surge
- was unprecedented; caused most of the deaths
- rising water flooded ground floors but high winds prevented escape to high floods
