Typhoon Haiyan destroying the Philippines - Meagan Klippenstein

On November 2, 2013 Typhoon Haiyan began its destructive path. Typhoon Haiyan also called Yolanda was an extremely powerful Typhoon in the Philippines. This insane Typhoon affected more than 14.1 million Filipinos and 4.1 million remain displaced from their homes to this day. Nearly 1,800 people are still missing. This enormous typhoon ripped through the Philippines at a maximum wind speed of 275 km/h (170 mph) for a 10-minute span. This makes typhoon Haiyan unofficially the strongest tropical cyclone ever observed generally based on wind-speed alone. This storm was the 13^th named storm of the Pacific typhoon season that year. An area of low pressure created the storm several hundred kilometers southeast of Pohnpei. This typhoon killed a whopping 6,183 people at least in the Philippines alone. It was equivalent to a category 5, which is the strongest category of typhoon. It wasn’t just the wind that caused the damage, the surge in sea level during the storm reached 13 feet. The impact this had was astounding. The amount of homes that were lost in the hardest hit area was 90%. The number of houses that were intensely damaged or completely ruined is 281,091. The most immediate threats to the people who survived this natural disaster in order are lack of safe drinking water, no shelter, untreated injury and illness, lack of sanitation and personal hygiene items and lack of household supplies like fuel. The storm also made five additional landfalls in the country before proceeding over the South China Sea. The typhoon then took its path northwestward eventually striking northern Vietnam as a severe tropical storm on November 10^th. Political leaders and climatologists have said the storm is a production of climate change. "The roof started to peel off. One by one, we were exposed to the rain and we were just holding to the roof wooden beams. Then the walls of the building started collapsing and each one of us started falling into the water. We were yelling at each other. Then all of us got separated," said Carangan, 45. The international response to this crisis was massive; the country that donated the most was United Kingdom donating $131 million. The second highest donation was Japan with $52 million in donations, and third is Canada with $40 million in donations. Examples of what they’re donations went towards are air force being deployed for relief, large amounts of water and supplies needed for everyday living, rescue teams, field hospital, doctors and nurses and water purification systems. The environmental impact was so immense, it also caused an oil spill by tearing down Power Barge 103 of Napocor in Estanica, Iloilo. The government is planning on replanting mongrove trees is coastal areas while doing their best attempt to preserve all the remaining ones. Residents were only allowed to go back to their homes after an air quality test was done on December 7^th, 2013 that showed that benzene level in affected areas reached near zero parts per million. The total damage totals at 1.6 billion US dollars.

Aftermath of Typhoon Haiyan

Today, even while the Philippines is struggling to rebuild and fix the damage of the super typhoon, the country is being forced to pay out billions of dollars in debt to the World Bank and other lenders. There was hardly any way anyone could prepare himself or herself for this super typhoon, they had broadcasted that there was going to be a major storm but despite these claims, many people didn’t believe them because it was so sunny outside, some people were even laughing. Hours before the typhoon hit authorities moved 800,000 people to evacuation centers that were sturdy, like churches, schools and public buildings. Despite this effort these buildings were no match for the jet-force winds and huge walls of waves. Nature is stronger than most people think, natures force combined with some man-made effects lead to the result of super typhoon Haiyan. 

Typhoon Haiyan Facts