An Alarming Rise in Typhoons? How will this affect YOU?

By Trinity Lam

Among Earth’s many disruptive weather events, typhoons are undoubtedly one of the most violent and severe, with immense physical and financial damage in their aftermath. 

Although the death toll from typhoons has lowered drastically over the years due to improvements in forecasting and weather systems, we have recently seen a significant increase in the intensity and frequency of typhoons. Research has already found a 12-15% increase in the intensity of typhoons in the East and Southwestern parts of Asia. This causes cities prone to typhoons to suffer heavy physical damage and causes immense financial burdens in the typhoon’s aftermath — from infrastructure damage to severed electricity and water supplies to housing and car damages, the impact on regular people is staggering. 

An example of this is Typhoon Mawar. It hit Guam in May 2023 and brought wind speeds of 105 mph — yet this doesn’t represent the true magnitude of the cyclone as the unbelievably strong wind shattered the anemometer. The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration also recorded waves reaching heights of 40ft and 20 inches of rain hitting Guam, and adding to the destruction, storm surges of 25ft had flooded all over the island. These life-threatening and destructive typhoons not only caused heavy environmental damage but resulted in a large percentage of Guam losing power — almost causing an island-wide blackout.

Adding on to typhoons, our world has also seen a boost in storm surges — unusual water rises generated by extreme weather events such as typhoons. Storm surges caused 300,000 deaths from people in the coastal wetlands of Bangladesh during a massive storm surge in 1970. If tropical cyclones and storm surges become more and more common, we could see immeasurable damage to coastal areas, increased death tolls, property damage possibly damaging your home, a disappearance of beaches and much more.

There can’t be a complete solution to prevent typhoons because they are a natural occurrence; however, we can still mitigate their horrible effects. If we support organisations for typhoon prevention and preparation, we can spread awareness to communities. For under-developed countries, ensuring proper drainage systems could prevent floods from escalating. We can also install permanent storm shutters onto all home windows. 

As a society, we must step up and act before it’s too late.