Tropical cyclones, also known as typhoons or hurricanes, are among the most violent weather events, causing high costs and losses in any area. The Philippines is one of the most typhoon impacted countries globally, with about 20 tropical cyclones traversing the country’s area of responsibility each year.
Why is the Philippines prone to typhoons?
The Philippines is located just above the equator and faces the western Pacific, with little else to absorb the energy of storms before they hit land. Storms are fuelled by the warm, tropical waters, which produce roughly 20 typhoons each year. The Philippines has the world’s hottest ocean temperatures – frequently above 28°C, the minimum temperature for typhoon formation. This is set to increase with climate change, increasing the frequency of typhoons.
- Typhoon Lando
Typhoon Koppu, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Lando, was a powerful and devastating tropical cyclone that struck Luzon in October 2015. It was the twenty-fourth named storm and the fifteenth typhoon of the annual typhoon season. Similar to Goni earlier in the year, Koppu originated from a tropical disturbance east of the Mariana Islands on October 10. Moving briskly west, the system consolidated into a tropical depression the following day and further into a tropical storm on October 13. Situated over the warm waters of the Philippine Sea, Koppu quickly deepened. The storm reached its peak intensity on October 17 with ten-minute sustained winds of 185 km/h (115 mph) according to the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The Joint Typhoon Warning Center assessed Koppu to have been a Category 4-equivalent super typhoon with one-minute sustained winds of 240 km/h (150 mph). The storm subsequently made landfall at this strength near Casiguran, Philippines. Approximately 1.24 million people were directly affected by the storm; at one point, 113,584 people moved to evacuation centers. Throughout the affected regions, 17,254 homes were damaged and 1,504 were destroyed. 62 people were killed, and total damage reached Php14.4 billion (US$313 million).
2.Typhoon Pedring
Typhoon Pedring (Nesat), entered the Philippine Area of Responsibility on September 25, 2011 with Virac Catanduanes as entry point. It had maximum wind strength of 65 kph and gustiness of 80kph. It entered in the Cordillera region on Tuesday afternoon os September 25, 2011 with a maximum strength of 120 kph and gustiness of 150 kph.
DSWD-CAR monitored 4 dead in Ifugao including 3 children due to fallen tree and landslide, 24 injured and 2 are missing in the region. Five families or 25 individuals are still inside two (2) evacuation centers in the towns of La Trinidad, Benguet and Hungduan, Ifugao. OCD-CAR report shows that 163 houses were partially damaged and 2 were totally damaged in the region.
3. Typhoon Rolly
On 1 November 2020, Super Typhoon Goni, the world’s most powerful tropical cyclone this year thus far, brought torrential rains, violent winds, mudslides and storm surges to Luzon.
The typhoon, locally known as Rolly, left extensive destruction and damage in its path, killing at least 25 people, injuring 399 and affecting 2 million people in 8 of the country’s 17 regions, as reported by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) and Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD). The typhoon left an estimated 845,000 people in need of assistance and protection.
4. Typhoon Ulysses
Typhoon Vamco/Ulysses lashed the main island of Luzon, whipping destructive winds and dumping heavy rainfall that triggered massive flooding in several areas. Vamco, the third major typhoon to hit the country in as many weeks, made landfall over Quezon province at 10.30 p.m. of 11 November (local time), packing maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h and gustiness of up to 205 km/h. The typhoon then traversed through Central Luzon overnight, moving to within 100 kilometers north of the capital Metro Manila, and exiting landmass on the morning of 12 November.
Ahead of the typhoon’s landfall, torrential rains were already being felt in the Bicol Region which was just affected by Super Typhoon Goni in early November.
Flash floods and landslides were reported in the provinces of Catanduanes and Camarines Sur. Large swaths of Luzon, including the capital city, were submerged in roof-level floods in scenes reminiscent of Tropical Storm Ketsana/Ondoy in 2009.
In Marikina City, located in the national capital, officials reported that around 40,000 houses were either partially or fully submerged, and that all 47 evacuation centers in the city were full with some evacuees seeking temporary shelter in nearby homes. Similar episodes of immersed houses and people trapped on rooftops were reported in the provinces of Rizal, Bulacan, and Cavite.
5.Typhoon Pepeng
Typhoon Pepeng (Parma) caused widespread flooding and landslides Saturday that buried at least two families in the Northern Philippines, just barely a week after Tropical Storm Ondoy (Ketsana) battered Metro Manila.
At least 14 people died when Pepeng hit the main island of Luzon. The National Disaster Coordinating Council reported that 32,055 families or 152,775 persons in 492 barangays were affected. Of these, 11,055 families or 50,106 persons are staying in evacuation centers.
In Benguet province, 12 people died in a landslide, including a 1-year-old boy. Two others died in Camarines Sur province.
Pepeng hit the Philippines just eight days after Ondoy caused the country’s worst flooding in four decades, killing almost 300 people. Pepeng dropped more rain on Metro Manila that slowed the cleanup and made conditions worse.
Thousands of people evacuated before Pepeng hit. But several towns in a dozen provinces were still battered, causing landslides and heavy flooding.
6. Typhoon Ompong
Typhoon Ompong (known internationally as Mangkhut) made landfall in Baggao, Cagayan, in the north-eastern Philippines in the early hours of 15 September 2018. With sustained wind speeds of more than 205 km/h and gusts of 255 km/h, the typhoon caused flash flooding, storm surges and landslides, leaving a path of destruction in its wake. It is the strongest storm to hit the Philippines this year and the strongest since Typhoon Haiyan (known locally as Yolanda) in 2013.
Nearly 193,000 people are taking shelter in 1,900 evacuation centers in five regions: Region I, II, III, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), and National Capital Region, while around 26,000 people are displaced and taking shelter in the homes of relatives and friends in Regions I, II, III and CAR. Region II and III are the worst-affected.
7. Typhoon Glenda
Typhoon Rammasun (known locally as Glenda) has affected an estimated 93,860 families (450,690 people) in four regions (IV-A, IV-B, V and VIII), based on initial reports by the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMMC). Out of the total affected population, 76,600 families (373,180 people) are in 500 evacuation centres. One death and two injuries were reported by the Government. Damages were mostly to infrastructure. Partners reported challenges in receiving additional information with disruption in telecommunication services due to power outages. Government offices and classes were suspended in the National Capital Region (Metro Manila) and in 10 provinces under Typhoon Signal No. 2 (areas with winds of 61 to 100 km/h). The provinces of Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Cavite as well as Gumaca municipality (Quezon province) and Muntinlupa City (Metro Manila) were reported under a state of calamity by local media.
8. Super Typhoon Pablo
Super Typhoon “Pablo” slammed into Siquijor, Misamis Oriental, Surigao del Sur, Agusan del Sur, Compostela Valley, and Davao Oriental, hitting some of the same cities and towns still recovering from the havoc suffered during Sendong. The death toll from Pablo had reached 1,046 people with 841 still missing, and damages to agriculture reaching $398 million, infrastructure $190.4 million, and private property $1.2 million.
9. Super Typhoon Odette
Super Typhoon Rai (known as “Odette” in the Philippines) was the 15th storm to hit the country in 2021 and was the strongest storm of 2021.
Super Typhoon Odette brought devastating winds, heavy rain and flooding across central Visayas and northern Mindanao in the Philippines Thursday last week.
The Philippine National Police estimates at least 375 dead, many more missing and 500 injured. News and social media photos show extensive damages to homes, businesses and vital infrastructure. The national government declared a state of calamity for affected areas.
10. Super Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest typhoon in the Philippines
Typhoon Haiyan was a tropical cyclone that hit the Philippines in November 2013, causing widespread devastation in Southeast Asia. With winds of 313 km/h, it was one of the most powerful tropical cyclones ever recorded. Rainfall totalled 281.9 mm in some parts, with the majority of it falling in less than 12 hours. Waves up to 7 metres high battered the coast.
On November 8, Typhoon Haiyan made landfall in the Philippines at 4:40 a.m. local time in the city of Guiuan, on the island of Samar. By 8:00 AM local time, Haiyan had struck the city of Tacloban on the island of Leyte.
The course of Typhoon Haiyan across the Philippines was disastrous. Violent winds and a storm surge hit Guiuan, inflicting massive damage and hundreds of casualties. The storm’s strength increased as it approached Tacloban, with storm waves of up to 6 metres hurling boats inland, wrecking buildings, and sweeping debris and people out to sea. Thousands of people are said to have died as a result of the destruction of the city.
Although estimates for the eventual mortality count varied up to 10,000 or more, the official toll for those killed or missing was around 8,000 two months after the disaster. By the end of the first week following the typhoon, the Philippine government reported that more than 800,000 people had been relocated and that 8.7 million people had been affected in some manner by the storm.
However, as relief efforts began, the official estimates grew to almost 4 million displaced people and over 16 million people affected in total. Furthermore, over a million homes were claimed to have been damaged, with around half of them being entirely destroyed.
