Natural Weather Hazard Events (OCR GCSE Geography)

Background

• • Typhoon Haiyan (locally called Yolanda) was one of the strongest ever-recorded tropical storm to hit the Philippines 
  • It made landfall on the 8th of November 2013 as a Category 5, with sustained winds of over 195 mph (315 km/hr)
  • The Philippines are a series of islands located in the South China Sea, east of Vietnam and north of Indonesia
  • The islands regularly suffer from typhoons that sweep in from the southwest every year during the tropical storm season
  • The islands sit in an area of usually warm ocean water, however, at time of storm, the sea temperature was 30°C
  • Sea level rise (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 is funnel shaped and this squeezes water into destructive storm surges

Path of Typhoon Haiyan

The path of Typhoon Haiyan

Typhoon Haiyan's Characteristics

Lowest pressure	895 mb
Peak strength	Category 5
Strength at landfall	Category 5 with 195 mph winds
Highest sustained wind speed	196 mph
Radius of typhoon strength winds	53 miles
Rainfall	400 mm
Storm surge height	5-6 m

Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

Total economic loss	$13 billion
Homes damaged or destroyed	1.1 million
Displaced people	4 million
Number of deaths	6201
Number of people missing	1785
Number of injured people	28,626
Number of people affected	16 million

Short and Long-term Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

Impacts	Short-term	Long-term
Social	6201 people died  1.1 million homes lost more than 4 million displaced Casualties 28,626 from lack of aid 16 million people affected UN admitted its response was too slow, amid reports of hunger/thirst among survivors	UN feared possibility of the spread of disease, lack of food, water, shelter and medication Areas less affected; influx of refugees into the area Two months later, 21,000 families were still in 380 evacuation centres, waiting to be rehoused by the government in bunkhouses that needed to be built
Economic	Estimated at $13 billion Major sugar/rice producing areas were destroyed Between 50,000 and 120,000 tonnes of sugar was lost Over 130,000 tonnes of rice were lost Government estimated that 175,000 acres of farmland was damaged (worth $85 million)	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 was decimated Debt is a major obstacle for the Philippines, the country is locked in a debt cycle, with more than 20% of government revenue spent on foreign debt repayments
Environmental	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 equated to nearly half of the Philippines agricultural exports / is the world's biggest producer of coconut oil Fishing communities were severely affected	An estimated 90 per cent of the rural population in typhoon-affected areas are small-scale farmers With 33 million coconut trees felled, international help has been sought to mill the 15 million tons of timber, lying rotting on the ground, attracting pests that threatened healthy trees Without a crop, families would not have cash to enable local markets to function

The Short-term and Long-Term Responses to Typhoon Haiyan

Short-term Response	Long-term Response
The Philippines declared 'a state of national calamity’, asked for international the next day	The UN donated financial aid, supplies and medical support
International aid agencies responded quickly with food, water and temporary shelters	5 days went by before any aid was received and only 20% of victims received aid
The Philippines Red Cross delivered basic food aid e.g. rice & canned food	UN admitted its response was too slow
UK sent shelter kits to provide emergency shelter for a family	Rebuilding of the airport, ports, roads and bridges
Over 1200 evacuation centres set up for the homeless	'Cash for Work' schemes gave locals money to help clear the debris
The French, Belgian and Israeli's set up field hospitals to help the injured	Oxfam helped finance replacement of the fishing boats
$475 million sent as aid and US sent 13,000 soldiers	Increased number of cyclone shelters have been built further away from coastal areas

• A heat wave is when temperatures are much higher than the average for a long period of time, in the UK that usually means 3 consecutive days 
• The conditions of a heat wave are not the same - Spain has much higher temperatures than the UK
• Heat waves are due to areas of high pressure (anticyclones) remaining the same place for an extended time and can last for several weeks to months
• The Heat Wave of August 2018 became one of the hottest years since records began in 1960, reaching temperatures of 38.5°C in some parts of the UK

Cause of 2018 heat wave

• For most of June and July an anticyclone (high pressure system) sat over the UK bringing dry, hot air from the centre of Europe 
• This kept the UK temperatures much higher than normal and lowered precipitation rates - only 47mm of rain fell in those months
• Any low-pressure systems of cool air and rain from the Atlantic Ocean were blocked by the anticyclone

Consequences

• Heat stroke, dehydration, sunburn, and breathing problems caused by air pollution
• Drowning due to thermal shock - people would jump into rivers, lakes and reservoirs to cool off, not realising that the water would be very cold in comparison to the surrounding air
• Heat wave linked deaths was in excess of 2000 people in the UK
• Wildfires were common due to the dry conditions and large areas of national parks were affected
• Thunderstorms caused by the heat wave brought lightning which struck 20 people
• Water supplies were threatened as water levels dropped in reservoirs, exposing previously hidden archaeological sites and 'drowned villages'
• Loss of livestock and crops due to lack of available water
• Extreme heat buckled rail tracks and melted roads, causing delays 
• Food and drink production was increased and ice-cream sales tripled
• Tourism in the UK increased as many people decided to holiday at home

Responses

• Guidance was issued by the government and NHS on how to deal with the heat - keep hydrated, take cool showers, block out sunlight to keep rooms cool etc. 
• Hose pipe bans were put in place in parts of the UK and restrictions were put in place on water usage
• Farmers were allowed to extract more water to help avoid loss of crops and livestock
• Some rails were painted white to reflect the heat to prevent buckling and some trains were cancelled
• A 'heat wave plan' was created by the UK government to help reduce the consequences of future heat waves