LESSONS LEARNED FROM

PAST NOTABLE DISASTERS.

THE PHILIPPINES.
PART 2: TYPHOONS, FLOODS,
AND LANDSLIDES
Walter Hays, Global Alliance for
Disaster Reduction, Vienna,
Virginia, USA
 NATURAL HAZARDS THAT PLACE THE
PHILIPPINES’ COMMUNITIES AT RISK

EARTHQUAKES
GOAL: DISASTER
RESILIENCE TYPHOONS

FLOODS
ENACT AND IMPLEMENT
POLICIES HAVING HIGH
BENEFIT/COST FOR LANDSLIDES
COMMUNITY RESILIENCE
VOLCANIC ERUPTIONS

GLOBAL CLIMATE CHANGE

THE PHILIPPINES
 TYPHOONS

THE PHILIPPINES IS AT RISK EVERY YEAR

FROM TROPICAL STORMS AND
TYPHOONS FORMING IN THE WESTERN
PACIFIC OCEAN, ESPECIALLY IF THEY
CAUSE DEVASTATING FLOODING AND
LANDSLIDES AFTER LANDFALL
 TYPHOON RISK
ACCEPTABLE RISK
•TYPHOON HAZARDS
•BLDG. INVENTORY RISK
•VULNERABILITY UNACCEPTABLE RISK
•LOCATION

GOAL: TYPHOON
THE DISASTER RESILIENCE
DATA BASES PHILPPINES’
AND INFORMATION COMMUNITIES

POLICY OPTIONS

• PREPAREDNESS
HAZARDS: •PROTECTION
GROUND SHAKING
GROUND FAILURE •EARLY WARNING
SURFACE FAULTING
TECTONIC DEFORMATION
•EMERGENCY RESPONSE
TSUNAMI RUN UP •RECOVERY and
AFTERSHOCKS
RECONSTRUCTION
Physics Of A Typhoon
 HAZARDS OF A SEVERE WINDSTORM
(AKA POTENTIAL DISASTER AGENTS)

• WIND FIELD [CAT 1 (55 mph) TO CAT 5+

(155 mph or greater)]
• DEBRIS
• STORM SURGE/FLOODS
• HEAVY PRECIPITATION/FLOODS
• LANDSLIDES (MUDFLOWS)
• COSTAL EROSION
 CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
WIND PENETRATING
BUILDING ENVELOPE

UPLIFT OF ROOF SYSTEM

FLYING DEBRIS

STORM SURGE
TYPHOONS

IRREGULARITIES IN
“DISASTER
ELEVATION AND PLAN
LABORATORIES”

SITING PROBLEMS

FLOODING AND LANDSLIDES

LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL TYPHOONS
• WITHOUT
ADEQUATE
PROTECTION, HIGH
VELOCITY WIND
WILL LIFT THE
ROOF OFF OF NON-
ENGINEERED
BUILDINGS.
LESSONS LEARNED ABOUT
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL TYPHOONS.
• DISASTER-
INTELLIGENT
COMMUNITIES USE
TIMELY EARLY
WARNING BASED ON
CRITICAL INFORM-
ATION TO EVACUATE
PEOPLE AND
PREPARE.
LESSONS LEARNED FOR
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL TYPHOONS
• CAPACITY FOR
INTELLIGENT
EMERGENCY
RESPONSE IS
ESSENTIAL FOR
COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE.
NOTABLE PAST TYPHOONS
THAT HAVE IMPACTED THE
PHILIPPINES
“THE WORST” (in terms of
deaths)
Tropical storm Uring, November
2- 7, 1991, killed 3,000 – 8,000,
mainly in Ormoc City.
“THE MOST COSTLY”

Super Typhoon Reming,

November 10- 14, 1990, caused
economic losses of 10, 840
billion pesos
TYPHOON YUNYA: JUNE 1991
 TYPHOON YUNYA
• Yunya would normally have been
uneventful, but the day it hit Luzon,
was the same day the eruption of
Mount Pinatubo took place.
• Pinatubo’s ash cloud, that normally
would have been dispersed across the
ocean, was redistributed over Luzon by
Yunya’s winds, greatly exacerbating
the damage caused by the eruption.
 TYPHOON YUNYA
• The water-laden ash fell over the
evacuated Clark Air Force Base, as well
as the rest of Luzon, resulting in
downed power lines and the collapse of
flat-roofed buildings.
• In some areas, it was practically raining
mud.
 2011
THE PHILIPPINES WAS HIT BY
19 TROPICAL STORMS AND
TYPHOONS
TRACKS OF 2011’S TYPHOONS
FLASH FLOODS SPAWNED BY
TROPICAL STORM WASHI
KILLED OVER 652 IN THE
PHILIPPINES

SATURDAY, DECEMBER 17, 2011

 WASHI, THE 19th STORM ARRIVED
ON FRIDAY; DEPARTED ON SUNDAY
 AFTER MAKING LANDFALL ON
FRIDAY, TROPICAL STORM WASHI
DUMPED MORE THAN A MONTH’S
RAIN (200 MM) IN 10 HOURS ON
MINDANAO, WHICH WAS NOT
(AND USUALLY IS NOT) IN THE
PATH OF THE PREVIOUS
TROPICAL STORMS AND
TYPHOONS OF 2011
 THE FLASH FLOODING AND
MUDFLOWS, WHICH WERE
TRIGGERED BY TROPICAL
STORM WASHI, HAPPENED AT
2:30 AM WHILE THE VICTIMS,
MOSTLY WOMEN AND CHILDREN,
WERE ASLEEP
ONE-FOURTH OF THE CITY OF
ILIGAN WAS INUNDATED IN
ITS WORST FLOOD EVER
 CAUSES
OF RISK

LOSS OF FUNCTION OF
STRUCTURES IN FLOODPLAIN

INUNDATION

INTERACTION WITH
HAZARDOUS MATERIALS

STRUCTURAL/CONTENTS
FLOODS DAMAGE FROM WATER

WATER BORNE DISEASES

CASE HISTORIES
(HEALTH PROBLEMS)

EROSION AND MUDFLOWS

CONTAMINATION OF GROUND
WATER
 OTHERS ATTENDING
EARLY MORNING
CHRISTMAS MASSES
WERE SURPRISED BY THE
FLASH FLOODING
 THE CITY OF CAGAYAN DE
ORO IN THE NORTHERN
ISLAND OF MINDANAO WAS
INUNDATED BY THE FLASH
FLOODS
 CAUSES
OF
DAMAGE
SITING AND BUILDING ON
UNSTABLE SLOPES

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE

TO FALLS

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE

TO TOPPLES

SOIL AND ROCK SUCEPTIBLE

LANDSLIDES TO SPREADS

SOIL AND ROCK

CASE HISTORIES SUSCEPTIBLE TO FLOWS

PRECIPITATION THAT
TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE
SHAKING
GROUND SHAKING THAT
TRIGGERS SLOPE FAILURE
LANDSLIDE: TROPICAL
STORM WASHI
MUDFLOW: TROPICAL
STORM WASHI
THE PHILIPPINE RED CROSS
LED THE EMERGENCY
RESPONSE EFFORTS
PROVIDING FOOD, WATER,
AND RELIEF SUPPLIES
20,000 SOLDIERS DEPLOYED
TO HELP IN SEARCH AND
RESCUE EFFORTS FOUND
BODIES EVERYWHERE: IN
HOMES, IN THE STREETS, IN
RIVERS, AND OFFSHORE
 PUBLIC OFFICIALS AND
HEALTH CARE FACILITIES
WERE OVERWHELMED WITH
THE NUMBER OF THE DEAD—
ESTIMATED AT NEARLY 1,000
RESCUE: CAYAGAN DE ORO,
THE PHILIPPINES
RESCUE: CAYAGAN DE ORO,
THE PHILIPPINES
RESCUE: CAYAGAN DE ORO,
THE PHILIPPINES
LLIGAN: RESIDENTS RETURN TO
START THE RECOVERY PROCESS
LESSONS LEARNED FOR
DISASTER RESILIENCE
• ALL NATURAL
HAZARDS
• CAPACITY FOR
RECOVERY AND
RECONSTRUCTION
IS ESSENTIAL FOR
COMMUNITY
RESILIENCE.
 INTERNATIONAL ASSISTANCE
FACILITATES RECOVERY
• THE USA, A LONG-TERM ALLY,
PLEDGED IMMEDIATE ASSISTANCE OF
ALL KINDS
• THE CHINESE GOVERNMENT
PLEDGED FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
 2012
TYPHOON BOPHA STRIKES
THE PHILIPPINES
 THE FORECAST FOR THE 2012
PACIFIC TYPHOON SEASON

 An above average season was

forecast in expectation of El
Nino’s impacts in the Pacific
with significant impacts, as
usual, in the Philippines, China,
and Japan.
24 STORM TRACKS AS OF
DECEMBER 17, 2012
 TROPICAL STORM MAWAR:
PHILIPPINES.; MAY 31-JUNE 6
TROPICAL STORM DOKSURI:
JUNE 25-30
 DOKSURI IMPACTED THE
PHILIPPINES, TAIWAN, AND CHINA
• Over $54 million in wind and water
damage.
TYPHOON BOPHA:
NOV. 29 - DEC. 5
 TYPHOON BOPHA
• Bopha, the most powerful typhoon to
hit Mindanao in decades, had top winds
of 175 kph (110 mph) as it came ashore
over the city of Baganga.
• Bopha destroyed buildings, triggered
flooding and landslides, and killed at
least 95 people.
 TYPHOON BOPHA
• Millions of people living in remote and
unprepared communities, were in
Bopha’s path.
 A landslide in eastern
Mindanao blocked a national
highway, leaving hundreds of
people in buses, vans and
cars stuck on the road.
 TOWARDS TYPHOON DISASTER
RESILIENCE

RISK ASSESSMENT

• VULNERABILITY

• COST
• EXPOSURE

TYPHOONS EXPECTED POLICY

• EVENT LOSS • BENEFIT
ADOPTION

•CONSEQUENCES

POLICY ASSESSMENT