Natural Disasters in Asia Natural disasters are extreme, sudden events caused by environmental factors that kill or injure people and damage property. Earthquakes, floods, eruptions, and typhoons all strike anywhere on earth, often without warning. These are some of the biggest natural disasters that hit Asia in 2013.
Typhoon Haiyan September 2013
Super typhoon Haiyan made history in the Philippines as the deadliest natural disaster to ever hit the calamity-prone country with winds up to 190-195 mph, making it the fourth most intense tropical cyclone ever observed in the world. The typhoon, known in the Philippines as Yolanda was the strongest ever recorded, it surpassed the record of the previous deadliest Philippine storm, Thelma, in which about 5,100 people died in the central Philippines in 1991. It was late evening of 7 November when Haiyan sent storm surge and merciless winds rampaging
Typhoon Usagi September 2013
across a huge chunk of the archipelago. One survivor akin her experience to a scene in the movie Titanic on the morning of 8 November, “the winds were banging on every side of the house. It had this shrill and scary sound to it that gave us goose bumps. The water was coming in fast - too fast. It was already knee level and we knew that it would be deeper outside. But we couldn’t go outside, it was too dangerous. The winds were too strong and debris were flying around,” she painfully recalled.
government was unable to respond fast. There were scenes of mayhem as starving survivors broke into shops, homes, and gasoline stations. Before and after photos of the hardest hit areas swamped the internet sending signals to the world that the Philippines badly needed help. On 11 November, Philippine President Benigno Aquino issued Presidential Proclamation declaring a state of national calamity. As of 12 December, the total number of casualties reached 5,982 and the total cost of damaged is roughly estimated to $810 million according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council. United Nation’s experts estimate that it will take years to restore infrastructure and rebuild the community in Tacloban.
In the aftermath of Haiyan, the scale of destruction is so immense in Tacloban that the local
Sources: The Philippine Inquirer, Agence FrancePresse, The Guardian
Typhoon Usagi, characterized by meteorologists
in Hong Kong International Airport and Ferry
as the strongest storm in the world this year
services between Hong Kong and nearby Macau
caused massive destruction that killed at least
and outlying islands were also suspended as the
33 people in Asia. It was classified as a severe ty-
observatory raised the warning to No. 8 storm sig-
phoon with winds of 175 kilometers (109 miles)
nal, the third highest on a five-point scale.
per hour and gusts of up to 213 kph (132 mph).
On 21 September, the Philippine government
In China, 25 people were reportedly killed in
raised its storm warning to its highest level since
worst-hit city, Shanwei where winds blew cars off
2010, according to the Wall Street Journal; while
the road near a gas station and houses were top-
China’s main meteorological service issued a “red
pled which led to the evacuation of thousands of
alert” as Usagi veered towards southern China,
people and widespread electricity outages.
particularly in Guangdong province, as well as
Philippine officials reported eight casualties from drowning and landslides while Taiwan authorities said nine people were hurt by falling trees. On 22 September, the super tyA powerful storm hit the Western Pacific and
phoon forced hundreds of flight can-
smashed into Hong Kong and Southern China
cellations and shut down shipping and train lines
after sweeping past the Philippines and Taiwan,
when it began pounding Hong Kong. Hundreds
leaving a trail of destruction in its wake.
of arriving and departing flights were cancelled
neighboring Fujian province. The official Xinhua news agency reported that more than 44,000 fishing boats were asked to return to port in Guangdong while Fujian Province evacuated more than 80,000 people from flood-prone areas and deployed 50,000 disaster-relief workers. In Taiwan, more than 3,300 people were evacuated from flood-prone areas and mountainous regions. The storm also caused a landslide that buried a rail line on Taiwan’s southeast coast. Sources: Reuters , The Guardian
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Technology | April 2014
