2020 tropical cyclones in the Philippines: A review

Abstract

The official website of the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) said more tropical cyclones (TCs) enter the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) than anywhere else in the world. With the average of 20 TCs per year, about eight (8) or nine (9) of them are crossing the Philippines. The peak of the typhoon season is July through October, when nearly 70% of all typhoons develop (http://bagong.pagasa.dost.gov.ph/climate/tropical-cyclone-information). Based on the report of the Asian Disaster Reduction Center (ADRC), five of the typhoons that visit the country are destructive and being situated in the “Pacific Ring of Fire” makes the country vulnerable to frequent earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. Its geographical location and physical environment also contribute to its high susceptibility to tsunami, sea-level rise, storm surges, landslides, flash/flood/flooding, and drought (https://www.adrc.asia/nationinformation.php?NationCode = 608&Lang = en). For the past years, some typhoons that visited the country brought serious damages and kill many Filipinos by floods and landslides. The researcher comes up with the idea of assessing the aftermath of 2020 typhoons that visited the country. The data used by the researcher were collected from different sources, namely NDRRMC (National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council), PAGASA, social media and other websites. The result of the study reveals that the most destructive typhoon in 2020 that caused huge damage on the infrastructure and agriculture is Ulysses followed by Rolly, Quinta, Ambo, Vicky, Pepito, Ofel, and Marce. Most of the affected areas are those nearer to water bodies, surrounded by mountains with few trees to absorb a huge amount of water and situated in the low-lying areas.