Typhoon Haiyan case study for GCSE Geography

Typhoon Haiyan, known locally as Yolanda, was a Category 5 tropical storm that hit the Philippines on 8 November 2013. Sustained winds reached around 195 mph at landfall, and the storm surge in Tacloban City was over 5 metres high. It killed at least 6,300 people, displaced around 4 million more, and caused roughly $13 billion of damage. AQA does not prescribe a specific tropical storm, centres choose which to study, but Haiyan is a popular choice as a named case study of a tropical storm in a lower-income country.

This guide covers why Haiyan formed where it did, the primary and secondary effects, the immediate and long-term responses, and the kind of evaluative points that earn full marks in 6 and 9 mark questions.

Tropical storms form over warm ocean water in the tropics, where the sea surface temperature is above 27°C and there is low wind shear. The Pacific Ocean east of the Philippines fits this perfectly, especially between June and November. Haiyan began as a tropical depression near Micronesia on 2 November 2013 and rapidly intensified as it moved west.

The Philippines sits in the path of the warm Pacific storm track, which is why it is hit by around 20 tropical storms a year. Haiyan was unusual because of how strong it became and how quickly it intensified before landfall.

Primary effects are the direct, immediate results of the storm itself: Wind damage, storm surge flooding, and rainfall. In Haiyan, the storm surge of over 5 metres in Tacloban was the single biggest killer, drowning thousands of people who had not evacuated because they did not understand what a storm surge meant.

Around 6,300 people died, 90% of Tacloban City was destroyed, over 1 million homes were damaged or flattened, and 16 million people were affected in total. The airport in Tacloban was wrecked, which made the aid response harder in the first days.

Secondary effects are the knock-on consequences in the days and weeks after the storm. They came from the breakdown of clean water, food supply, and law and order.

Outbreaks of disease followed because sewage mixed with floodwater. Around 16 million people needed food aid. Looting broke out in Tacloban as supplies ran short. Schools closed for weeks, costing children learning time. Around 6 million workers lost their income because rice paddies and fishing fleets were ruined, deepening poverty in an already poor region.

Immediate responses are actions taken in the first hours, days, and weeks. The Philippine government declared a state of national calamity on 11 November 2013 and began evacuating around 800,000 people. International aid flooded in: The UK, US, Australia, and UN agencies sent food, water, medical teams, and shelter materials.

The US deployed the aircraft carrier USS George Washington with helicopters to drop supplies to cut-off villages. Field hospitals were set up in Tacloban. Curfews were imposed to control looting. Telecommunications were partially restored within a week, but it took months to rebuild power and water systems.

Long-term responses are the rebuilding and planning that took place in the months and years after Haiyan. The Philippine government launched the Build Back Better programme, which aimed to rebuild stronger homes and infrastructure away from the worst storm-surge zones.

A no-build zone was declared within 40 metres of the shoreline in the worst-hit areas, with new housing built further inland. Mangrove planting was encouraged along coasts because mangroves absorb wave energy. Cyclone shelters were built. Early warning systems were improved, and the term "storm surge" is now translated more carefully in local warnings.

Three factors combined to make Haiyan one of the deadliest typhoons on record. First, the storm itself was exceptionally strong, with sustained winds near 195 mph. Second, the geography of Tacloban funnelled the storm surge into a narrow bay, amplifying its height. Third, the Philippines is a lower-income country with weaker building standards, dense coastal populations, and limited emergency infrastructure.

Many people did not evacuate because the warning used the unfamiliar term "storm surge" rather than "tsunami-like wave". Building codes were not strictly enforced. Tacloban airport and the main hospital were both inside the surge zone, which crippled the immediate response.