NH - TRS Case Studies

It became a typhoon in 2013 after developing off the coast of Micronesia and going west

It was category 5 with gusts up to 300 km/hr

On the 7th of Nov it made landfall at Tacloban in the Philippines

It then travelled over Vietnam and dissipated over China

Cities such as Tacloban were overcrowded

Often poorly-built homes were located on low-lying land

Houses were built on slops and therefore vulnerable to landslides

The govt. effort was poor and uncoordinated so residents had to rely on NGOs for aid

300 mm of rainfall in <12 hours

A 5m storm surge in Leyte, the island Tacloban is on

> 6000 fatalities, with bodies still being discovered in 2019 and 29,000 injured

4.1 m people homeless, 1.1 m tonnes of crops destroyed, 1.1 m homes damaged

It cost $12 bn overall

Large areas were cut off by landslides and the airports got shut

Water-borne diseases spread from contaminated floodwater

8 people died in a stampede for supplies

An oil tanker ran aground, causing an 8 megalitre leak, which affected 10 hectares of mangrove

Rice prices rose by 12%

800,000 people were evacuated

Many people found refuge in a stadium, but then died when it flooded

A curfew was set up to limit looting

>1,200 evacuation centres were set up

1 m food packs and 2.5×10^6 litres of water were distributed in the 1st 2 weeks

$1.5 bn in aid was pledged by 33 countries

A scheme paid people to clear and rebuild Tacloban

Oxfam replaced fishing boats

Build Back Better replaced many homes

They set up a no-build zone, a storm surge warning system and new mangroves were planted

Category 5

Occurred in Aug 2005

Wind speeds of 280 km/hr

It originated off the Bahamas and travelled west curving over Florida

It dipped back down into the Gulf of Mexico, gaining power before making landfall again

It travelled over Louisiana and Mississippi and finally dissipated over the northwest of the USA

80% of New Orleans was flooded

1,800 people were killed and 1 m were displaced

110,000 homes flooded, 18 schools destroyed and 74 damaged

230,000 jobs lost and 1.3 m acres of forest land destroyed

Over $200 bn of damage and the logging industry lost $5 bn

Very few secondary deaths at supplies delivered swiftly

Petrol prices rose (the UK reached £1/litre for the 1st time)

7 m gallons of oil leaked

Racial tensions heightened as many victims were African Americans

The population fell by 5%

A mandatory evacuation, which still left 150,000 residents behind as they didn’t have a car (this disproportionately affected African American people)

President Bush declared a state of emergency 2 days before landfall

The Coast Guard rescued 33,500 people

The National Guard was deployed, with 58,000 personnel overall

Public donations of $1.8 bn through the Red Cross

The international community responded quickly e.g. money from Kuwait, tarps and hygiene kits from India

Rehoming of residents, however 260 families were still living in trailers in 2010

Replacement of 220 miles of floodwalls and levees costing $14 bn

$34 bn for rebuilding schools and communities

By June 2006, the city was promoting tourism once again

It protrudes out into the Gulf of Mexico

50% of the city is below sea-level

Levees were not up to modern standards and many failed

Poor black urban population was majorly affected

The Lower 9th Ward has a 98% black population, ½ earning less than $20,000 a year

It was the last to have power and water restored

Long-term problems included rat infestations, vacant plots, unpaid insurance claims and by 2015 only 37% of businesses had opened back up

Many said it was too slow to respond

Many said that ethnic minorities were not helped as much as others, and they were therefore disproportionately affected