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.
On 16 December 2021, super typhoon Rai, locally known as Odette, made its landfall in the Philippines, bringing torrential rains, violent winds, floods, and storm surges to the Visayas and Mindanao Islands (Philippines Super Typhoon, 2021).
Super Typhoon Odette left thousands of families homeless, reversing some significant economic and social progress that the Philippine government has made from its Covid-19 recovery. It has caused widespread damages to houses, public infrastructure, and power and telecommunications services in over seven provinces across the Philippines.
Reliefweb provides data on the damages that super typhoon Odette brought to the country. As of 6 January 2022, there are 407 typhoon-related deaths, 7.3 million people affected, and 2.4 million in need of humanitarian assistance.
Studies linking super typhoons and extremes events to climate change
Integrated Disaster Science and Management: Global Case Studies in Mitigation and Recovery published in 2018 state a strong scientific consensus that anthropogenic climate change is contributing to stronger typhoons. This is due to higher sea surface temperatures and higher subsurface sea temperatures which removes the natural buffer on typhoon strength that colder water from below the ocean’s surface causes. Sea-level rise resulting from climate change will also worsen the effects of these strong typhoons. The Philippines is becoming more vulnerable to stronger cyclones with its rapidly growing population.
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