Emergency Preparedness and Response Management

Natural Disaster in Philippines

 Typhoons or Tropical cyclones 

 Earthquake
 Volcanic Eruptions

Topic: Typhoons or Tropical cyclones 

What is a Typhoon or Tropical cyclones ?

 Hurricanes, cyclones, and typhoons are all types of storms that spin and are fuelled by
warm air. Strong winds and a lot of rain accompany these storms. They form over warm
waters, gaining energy as warm air absorbs water and rises. When warm ocean air
rises, it cools, causing clouds to develop. This is referred to as a high-pressure zone.
 There is a lot less air near to the water surface as this air rises. This is referred to as a
low-pressure zone. More air rushes in to fill the void created by the low pressure. This
causes a spinning cycle as air moves in to fill that area as it heats and rises. More
clouds form as the heated air continues to climb and cool.
 In other parts of the world, these are referred to as hurricanes, typhoons or simply
tropical cyclones depending on the region. In the North Atlantic, Eastern North Pacific
and South Pacific Ocean, they are called"hurricanes". In the bay of Bengal, Arabian Sea
and Western South Indian Ocean, the name is"cyclonic". In the eastern part of the
Southern Indian Ocean, it is "willy-willy", and in the Western North Pacific Ocean, they
are called "typhoons".

Tropical Cyclone Intensity Scale[1][2]

Category Sustained winds

≥185 km/h
Super typhoon (STY)
≥100 knots

118–184 km/h
Typhoon (TY)
64–99 knots

89–117 km/h
Severe tropical storm (STS)
48–63 knots

62–88 km/h
Tropical storm (TS)
34–47 knots

≤61 km/h
Tropical depression (TD)
≤33 knots

What is the life cycle of a typhoon?

Typhoons become more powerful when they pass over the ocean, as the air above the warm
water fuels their motion. The typhoon is replenished by new air as it heats and rises. This
causes the storm to cycle, causing the typhoon to intensify as it moves through warm water.

Typhoons lose intensity when they reach land because they are no longer travelling over warm
water and hence have run out of ‘fuel.’ As they lose their intensity, they can still do significant
damage with strong winds and rain.

Where and When Tropical Cyclones form?

 Western North Pacific Ocean , including the Philippines , during the months of May to
November, but storms sometimes occur in all months.
 Tropical North Atlantic Ocean East of the Lesser Antilles and the Caribbean, east of
70°W during the months of July to October
 North Pacific off the West Coast of Central America during the months of June to
October.
 Bay of Bengal and Arabian Sea from May to June and October to November.
 South Pacific Ocean, West of 140°W from December to April.
 South Indian Ocean from December to April. Northwestern Coast of Australia during the
months of November to April.

Effect of Typhoons

 STORM SURGE
The storm surge is an abnormal rise of water due to a tropical cyclone and it is an
oceanic event responding to meteorological driving forces. Potentially disastrous surges
occur along coasts with low-lying terrain that allows inland inundation, or across inland
water bodies such as bays, estuaries, lakes and rivers. For riverine situations, the surge is
sea water moving up the river. A fresh water flooding moving down a river due to rain
generally occurs days after a storm event and is not considered a storm surge. For a
typical storm, the surge affects about 160 km of coastline for a period of several hours.
 Flood: This effect is caused by the torrential rainfall, which occurs as a direct result of
the typhoon itself. As mentioned earlier, flooding will ruin crop fields, collapse small
buildings, and can even take lives.
 Landslide: Landslides are caused by the precipitation that is present when a typhoon
hits an area. Landslides occur when large amounts of water has settled on mountain
tops. The intense pressure of the water pressing down, causes soil and rock to slide off
from where they were.
  STRONG WINDS
A squall is defined as an event in which the surface wind increases in magnitude above
the mean by factors of 1.2 to 1.6 or higher and is maintained over a time interval of
several minutes to one half hour. The spatial scales would be roughly 2 to 10 km. The
increase in wind may occur suddenly or gradually. These development near landfall lead
to unexpectedly large damage.
 TORNADOES
Tornadoes are tropical cyclone spawned which are to expected for about half of the
storms of tropical storm intensity. These are heavily concentrated in the right front
quadrant of the storm (relative to the track) in regions where the air has had a relatively
short trajectory over land. These form in conjunction with strong convection.

How to deal or response to typhoon

1. Ensuring a safe stay at home

2. Have a suitable stock of necessities
3. Check evacuation routes
4. Plant Trees
5. Don’t throw Garbage in rivers or drainage systems
6. Always be updated in the upcoming Typhoon
7. Don’t be stupid or be a fool
8. Prevention is better than cure

https://www.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/information/about-tropical-cyclone#:~:text=TYPHOON
%20(TY)%20%2D%20a%20tropical,or%20more%20than%20100%20knots.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Typhoons_in_the_Philippines
https://www.futurelearn.com/info/futurelearn-international/philippines-
typhoons#What_is_the_life_cycle_of_a_typhoon
https://www.kansai-td.co.jp/english/home/teiden-info/preparation/typhoon-flood.html