Effects of Tropical Storms (AQA GCSE Geography): Revision Note

Specification links

The notes on this page cover part of 3.1.1.3 Weather hazards on the AQA GCSE specification. (opens in a new tab)

3.1.1.3 - Key idea: Tropical storms have significant effects on people and the environment.

• Primary and secondary effects of tropical storms.

• Immediate and long-term responses to tropical storms.

• Use a named example of a tropical storm to show its effects and responses.

Primary & secondary effects

• Primary effects are the immediate impacts of strong winds, high rainfall and storm surges

• Secondary effects are the impacts that occur later on after the storm has passed

Primary impacts of tropical storms

• Buildings and bridges are destroyed

• Roads, railways, ports, and airports are damaged

• Electricity lines are damaged/destroyed

• Gas lines broken

• Sewage overflows

• Rivers and coastal areas flooded

• Businesses destroyed

Secondary impacts of tropical storms

• The lack of shelter leaves people homeless, which can lead to distress, poverty, ill-health, or even death

• Cost of rebuilding can be expensive and some people may not have insurance

• Blocked or destroyed roads prevent rescue and emergency vehicles and aid from getting through

• Life support systems, hospitals, shops and homes left without power supplies

• Risk of fires and explosions

• Clean water supplies contaminated, bringing increased risk of waterborne diseases and death

• Rushing water drowns people or injures them. Crops, livestock and habitats destroyed, leading to shortage of food and potentially famine

• Economic impact to business owners and potential unemployment

Immediate & long-term responses

• Immediate responses are:

  • When a tropical storm is forecasted (predicted) to hit an area

  • As the tropical storm is happening

  • Immediately after the tropical storm has passed

• Long-term responses are:

  • Restoring an area to past conditions

  • Reducing the impact of future storms 

Immediate responses to tropical storms

• Evacuation of people before the tropical storm arrives

• Rescue people before the storm cuts people off from flooding and treat injured people

• Recover any dead bodies to reduce and prevent water- and air-borne diseases

• Set up temporary shelters for the homeless and post notices where they are being housed for missing family members

• Provide temporary supplies of power, food and water and restore communication systems as soon as possible

• Overseas aid may be sent in the form of workers, supplies, equipment or financial donations

• Tech companies encouraged to set up disaster response tools to let people confirm their safety, report damaged areas and alert about risk areas 

Long-term responses to tropical storms

• Improve long-term forecasting techniques to give people more time to evacuate in the future

• Provide aid, grants or subsidies to residents to repair and strengthen their properties

• Repair and improve flood defences – floodgates, levees, etc. 

• Repair homes or rehouse people who have lost their homes or been damaged

• Repair, replace and improve infrastructure

• Improve building regulations so that more buildings withstand the impacts of tropical storms or change planning rules to restrict homes being built in risk areas

• Encourage economic recovery in the area and encourage people to return with incentives or tax breaks

Case study: Typhoon Haiyan

Background

• Typhoon Haiyan (locally called Yolanda) was one of the strongest ever-recorded tropical storm to hit the Philippines 

• It made landfall on the 8th of November 2013 as a Category 5, with sustained winds of over 195 mph (315 km/hr)

• The Philippines are a series of islands located in the South China Sea, east of Vietnam and north of Indonesia

• The islands regularly suffer from typhoons that sweep in from the southwest every year during the tropical storm season

• The islands sit in an area of usually warm ocean water; however, at time of storm, the sea temperature was 30°C

• Sea level rise (since 1900, has increased 20cm around the world) is a factor, as higher seas are known to contribute to greater storm surges

• Abstracting too much groundwater has caused parts of the country to sink

• Tacloban stands at the end of a bay that is funnel shaped and this squeezes water into destructive storm surges

Typhoon Haiyan's characteristics

Impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

Short-term impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

Social

• 6201 people died 

• 1.1 million homes lost

• more than 4 million displaced

• Casualties: 28,626 from lack of aid

• 16 million people affected

• UN admitted its response was too slow amid reports of hunger/thirst among survivors

Economic

• Estimated at $13 billion

• Major sugar/rice-producing areas were destroyed

• Between 50,000 and 120,000 tonnes of sugar was lost

• Over 130,000 tonnes of rice were lost

• Government estimated that 175,000 acres of farmland was damaged (worth $85 million)

Environmental

• Loss of forests/trees and widespread flooding

• Oil and sewage leaks into local ecosystems

• Lack of sanitation in days following lead to a higher level of pollution

• Coconut plantations were said to be 'completely flattened' (coconut equated to nearly half of the Philippines' agricultural exports / is the world's biggest producer of coconut oil

• Fishing communities were severely affected

Long-term impacts of Typhoon Haiyan

Social

• UN feared possibility of the spread of disease, lack of food, water, shelter and medication

• Areas less affected; influx of refugees into the area

• Two months later, 21,000 families were still in 380 evacuation centres, waiting to be rehoused by the government in bunkhouses that needed to be built

Economic

• The Philippines declared 'a state of national calamity’

• Asked for international help the next day

• President Aquino was under growing pressure to speed up the distribution of food/water/medicine

• Tacloban city was decimated

• Debt is a major obstacle for the Philippines; the country is locked in a debt cycle, with more than 20% of government revenue spent on foreign debt repayments

Environmental

• An estimated 90 per cent of the rural population in typhoon-affected areas are small-scale farmers

• With 33 million coconut trees felled, international help has been sought to mill the 15 million tons of timber
  lying rotting on the ground, attracting pests that threatened healthy trees

• Without a crop, families would not have cash to enable local markets to function

Short-term term responses to Typhoon Haiyan

• The Philippines declared 'a state of national calamity’ and asked for international the next day

• International aid agencies responded quickly with food, water and temporary shelters

• The Philippines Red Cross delivered basic food aid e.g. rice & canned food

• UK sent shelter kits to provide emergency shelter for a family

• Over 1200 evacuation centres set up for the homeless 

• The French, Belgian and Israeli set up field hospitals to help the injured

• $475 million sent as aid and US sent 13,000 soldiers

Long-term responses to Typhoon Haiyan

• The UN donated financial aid, supplies and medical support

• 5 days went by before any aid was received and only 20% of victims received aid

• UN admitted its response was too slow

• Rebuilding of the airport, ports, roads and bridges

• 'Cash for Work' schemes gave locals money to help clear the debris

• Oxfam helped finance replacement of the fishing boats

• Increased number of cyclone shelters have been built further away from coastal areas