THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

Typhoon Bopha: A Report and Analysis Brit Bringhurst Salt Lake Community College

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

Report On December 4th, 2012, the island of Mindanao in the Philippines was hit by the Super Typhoon designated Bophaor as locals called it, Pablo. Typhoon Bopha was a very irregular Typhoon in that it first began to form as a tropical depression on November 26th, 2012 very near the equator at the 2.2nd degree northern latitude. These two aspects alone make this typhoon strange because the timelinethe season for typhoonsin the northern hemisphere generally ranges from July to late November. Typhoons very rarely from so close to the equator and only a handful of tropical cyclones and typhoons have formed any closer to the equator than Bopha. The following day, this depression becomes a tropical storm and is designated Tropical Storm Bopha and has a diameter of about one hundred miles (Gutro, 2012). On the 28th of November, tropical storm Bopha is approaching the Chuuk and Yap States of the nation Micronesia (Rosenberg, 2005) with a forecast of bringing a one to two foot storm surge in warning areas. The National Weather Service reported there would be a ten to twelve foot storm surge along the eastern and southeastern and southern shores of Lukunor in the Chuuk State when the center of Bopha passed over causing severe flooding (Gutro, 2012). Bopha continued to grow in power, wind speed, and size. Below is a picture of the path that Bopha took that I pulled from wunderground.com.

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

Between December 2nd and 3rd, Typhoon Bophas wind speeds increased substantially and reached its peak with maximum sustained wind speeds at 161 mile per hour (Gutro, 2012). At this point Bopha is classified as a category 5 typhoon on the Saffir-Simpson scale. This is the highest rating on the scale and causes the highest damage in loss of lives and damage to property. When Typhoon Bopha made landfall in Davao Oriental province, the wind speed suddenly dropped to about 87 mph (Gutro, 2012). Despite this drop in wind speed, the affected areas sustained large amounts of damage. This was due to several factors. The southernmost island of Mindanao rarely experiences severe cyclonic weather systems because it is very close to the equator. This is due to the Coriolis Effect which explains that as the earth rotates on its axis, it causes winds to move in a general and stable pattern, these are the prevailing winds. The

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

Coriolis Effect leads to the Prevailing Winds that combined with heat in the ocean give rise to tropical cyclonic storm systems. However, the Prevailing Winds do not blow at the equator making it very rare for a tropical cyclone to form. Because of this, the population of Mindanao was ill-prepared to deal with typhoon level wind speeds. Another factor causing so much damage was the large amounts of rain that the typhoon carried and dropped in the region. According to observations conducted by NASA at the time the typhoon was over Mindanao, Bopha was dropping two inches50 centimetersof water an hour (Gutro, 2012). Mindanao is an island with a topography characterized by many hills and peaks. Coupled with the large amounts of rainfall, this hilly and sometimes steep topography led to the severe flooding in many cities, towns, and small villages. After hitting the Philippines, typhoon Bopha moved into the South China Sea. When reaching the sea, it gained energy from the warm water which fueled Bopha and caused it to reintensify (Gutro, 2012). The maximum sustained wind speeds increase to roughly 126 mph. By December 9th, Bopha had looped around and lost much of its energy and was then being called a tropical depression. The exact number of people that lost their lives varies from one estimate to the next but it was more than one thousand lives. The number of people affected was much higher. In seven different regions of the Philippines, about 6.8 millionroughly 1.2 million familieswere reported to be affected by typhoon Bopha ("Emergency food security," 2013). This is a very high number and does account for those who were moderately or mildly affected as well as those severely affected. Those who were affected the greatest were living on the island of Mindanao. Not only did the residents of Mindanao face the strongest winds and highest storm surges but

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

because this region is rarely hit by storms of this magnitude so many of the structures were built poorly. There were many towns and villages where most the houses and shelters were made only of scrap materials. Davao Orientals was where many of the deaths occurred. Many of the people in this province lived in the shacks and poorly built houses that had no chance to hold up against the wind. If their houses were better built, the massive downpour of rain that Bopha brought caused severe flashfloods and was a major cause of loss of life. Typhoon Bopha caused the loss of many lives and also a lot of damage to property. One estimate says that Bopha caused roughly 750 million US dollars in damage. Much of this damage was to the coconut and banana industry accounting for about 692 million US dollars in damage. Bopha caused direct damage by destroying houses, buildings, farm lands, trees, and even entire villages. Bopha also caused indirect damage by polluting water supplies, crippling the economy, and displacing so many families right before the holiday season, causing emotional anguish. Analysis Typhoon Bopha first began to form more than a week before it arrived in the Philippines. This provided the Government of the Philippines a lot of time to prepare for Bopha. What the government did was work to warn the people early on before Bopha arrived. They also worked to pre-evacuate people who they thought were in the most dangerous areas such as along the shorelines. In some places, shelters were set up so those who lived in homes that would likely not withstand the strong winds could go and help keep their families safe ("Philippines: Typhoon bopha," ).

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

To further prepare for Bopha, the government alerted all emergency responders to be prepared for the typhoon to make landfall. They did so by sending out alerts to the various organizations that help to mitigate the effects of storms in the area. These organizations and personal also brought in medical supplies, food, and other relief items beforehand to lessen to burden that would be felt by those affected. These preparation and mitigation plans worked in certain circumstances. There were many people that needed to be evacuated after their homes were destroyed and were able to get shelter in some buildings that were designated as public shelters. However, many people did not utilize these shelters and were therefore not helped by them. The supplies that were brought in before Bopha hit helped but some were lacking, mainly fresh water. In some villages and towns the fresh water supplies were contaminated and could not be consumed. This caused a lot of dehydration although I could find no evidence showing that anyone died, merely that some people had to travel four hours in order to get fresh drinking water. One aspect of mitigation that was overlooked was the villages and towns that consisted of small houses constructed from cheap supplies and were not sturdy. Areas like this made up a large amount of the residential areas in Davao Oriental. Because of the poor construction, these buildings were unable to withstand the wind forces of Bopha. Another problem was the location of these buildings. Most of the villages and towns were located at the bottom of hills or small mountains. When Bopha made landfall, it brought a lot of rain and this caused many flash floods which was the largest cause of death from Bopha. Villages in the future should be constructed with stronger buildings and be moved as far as possible from flash flood and landslide areas. Bopha brought so much rain that this region experienced a greater number of landslides and flashfloods than it would normally see.

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

As stated before, it is very rare for a storm of this power to start so close to the equator and hit the Philippines as far south as it did. I believe this to be the greatest reason why Bopha caused so much damage. The island of Mindanao was not expected to be hit with a storm of this size and was therefore not prepared. It is my opinion that even though these events are rare, they should be better planned for. The Philippinesespecially the northern islandsare in an area that is hit with some of the strongest and most frequent tropical cyclones on Earth. This alone is reason for the island of Mindanao to prepare for strong storms such as Bopha or even stronger. If the wind speeds had not slowed by about 35 mph, the effects of Bopha would have been far worse. It possible that even some of the older buildings converted into shelters for those evacuated could have been destroyed causing far greater loss of lives. The economic impact of Bopha will be felt for a very long time. Many of the crops such as wheat, rice, and cattle can start being produced soon after the typhoon hit. The banana and coconut industry is another matter. These two crops being destroyed cost the equivalent of about 692 million US dollars in damage. Unlike the other foods and resources being produced, these will take a lot of timemost likely many yearsfor the production to return to normal. This will have lasting effects not on in the economy of Mindanao but the effects will also be felt across the planet. This event was made worse but the large population growth that has been occurring in this region. From 1960 until the 2000, the population of Mindanao quadrupled to a total of about 18.1 million people. If a tropical typhoon of similar magnitude to Bopha had hit the region, it is likely much fewer individuals and families would have been affected by it. I believe it is possible that because of such a rapid population growth, many were forced to build or buy houses that were not constructed adequately to hold up against strong storms or move into regions that were

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

prone to flash floods and landslides. With over one thousand lives lost, hundreds of millions in US dollars in damage, and millions of people affected by Bopha, there is no doubt this is a catastrophe. If, like in 1960, the population had been much lower its possible this would have classified as merely a disaster and not a catastrophe. I was unable to locate information about natural service functions that typhoon Bopha brought, however I see there being several possibilities. One possible natural service function could be that when many of the crops were destroyed, the remains would decay in the ground, providing greater nutrients to future crops in the same area. A similar natural service function would be that the flashfloods and landslides brought fresh soil into the crop fields replenishing any nutrients that had been depleted from the soil beforehand. Typhoon Bopha was a devastating catastrophe that cost many their lives and negatively affected so many more. There was a lot of warning for the event but because it was so rare, there was not a lot of precedent for typhoons on the island of Mindanao and people were not as prepared as they could have been. Better structures should be built as well as water purifiers in all of the villages and towns so there are no water shortages as there were before. If the population growth continues at the same rate and there is another typhoon of similar strength in the future, the effects will most likely be much worse.

THYPHOON BOPHA: A REPORT AND ANALYSIS

Citations Alegado, J. (2012). Typhoon pablo makes landfall in philippines; initial reports show minimal damage so far. Oxfam International, Retrieved from http://oxf.am/3gG Gutro, R. (2012, 12 10). Nasa satellites see typhoon bopha fizzle over weekend. Retrieved from http://www.nasa.gov/mission_pages/hurricanes/archives/2012/h2012_Bopha.html NATIONAL STATISTICAL COORDINATION BOARD, REGIONAL UNIT XI. (2001). Southern mindanaos population has quadrupled since 1960 (007). Retrieved from website: http://www.nscb.gov.ph/ru11/products/factsheet/2001/fs-jul.pdf OCHA, (n.d.). Philippines: Typhoon bopha (pablo) - timeline of key events. Retrieved from OCHA website: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/TY+Bopha+timeline+13Jan2013.pd f Republic of the Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development, et al., (2013). Emergency food security, nutrition and livelihoods assessment for typhoon bopha (pablo), philippines . Retrieved from website: http://reliefweb.int/sites/reliefweb.int/files/resources/Bopha_Assessment_Key_Findings_ Feb_2013.pdf Rosenberg, M. (2005). Federated states of micronesia. In M. Rosenberg (Ed.), Federated states of micronesia. About.com. Retrieved from http://geography.about.com/library/cia/blcmicronesia.htm