Vulnerability Assessment Using Time Series Mapping: A Case Study of Typhoon Haiyan in Tacloban City, Philippines

Abstract

This study will assess the changes of vulnerability to typhoons in Tacloban City, Philippines by mapping and comparing vulnerability dynamics before and after the Typhoon Haiyan. Coastal communities in Philippines are disproportionally affected by the impacts of typhoons due to their vulnerable housing, lack of access to information and low capacities to cope and recover from natural hazards. Understanding the vulnerability dynamics over time can help to reduce risk of deaths and other losses by aiding the targeted implementation of disaster risk reduction strategies. My main research questions are: Which barangays in Tacloban City are the most vulnerable in both years? How has vulnerability scores changed from 2010 to 2015 after the Typhoon Haiyan? What effects did resilience strategies implemented by the government had in vulnerability levels. My hypothesis is that vulnerability decreased from 2010 to 2015 due to the resilience strategies implemented to reduce disaster risk. In order to test this hypothesis, I used census data (2010 and 2015) from Tacloban City, Philippines, to assess the 138 barangays (neighborhoods) in Tacloban City in order to create an index that evaluates the three components of vulnerability: exposure, sensitivity and adaptive capacities. In order to assess spatial dynamics of vulnerability The vulnerability scores resulted from the analysis using a four-step approach (Krishnamurthy, Lewis, & Choularton, 2014) to calculate the vulnerability index (Cutter, Boruff, & Lynn Shirley, 2003). I conclude that results supports the reduction of vulnerability particularly in Barangay 88, 89 barangay, mainly caused by reconstruction and relocation efforts. There was a lowi increase in adaptive capacities. I discuss the further questions and analysis that needs to be done on site with more qualitative data from interviews and focus groups in order to understand the changes in adaptive capacities.