Eleven years after Super Typhoon (ST) "Yolanda" (international name: Haiyan) left massive devastation in the Visayas on November 8, 2013, the experience continues to provide opportunities to learn from the said calamity.
The disaster that killed over 7,000 individuals has become the basis for the development of better disaster response and preparedness systems.
State weather bureau PAGASA said that prior to ST Yolanda, there were only three references on the classification of tropical cyclone: tropical depression, tropical storm, and typhoon. But during and after the onslaught of ST Yolanda, PAGASA added the categories of super typhoon and severe tropical storm.
According to PAGASA Visayas Regional Services Division Chief, Engr. Al Quiblat, when Super Typhoon Odette (international name: Rai) hit the Visayas in 2021, the range of the criteria on the strength of a super typhoon also changed.
Prior to ST Odette, a tropical cyclone must reach wind speeds of 220 km/h before it can be tagged as a super typhoon. But currently, once a tropical cyclone reaches wind speeds of 185km/h and above, it is already called a super typhoon.
Engr. Quiblat pointed out that various products and services in weather forecasting have been developed a decade post-Yolanda.
One of these products and services is the Rainfall Warning System that provides rainfall advisories issued from time to time on a daily basis.
The new products and services were made possible upon the procurement of new equipment and tools after former President Benigno Aquino III signed the modernization program of PAGASA in 2016.
In the past, only Barangay Mactan in Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu and Guiuan town in Eastern Samar have Doppler radars. As of this writing, there are already five Doppler radars in the entire Visayas after the mounting in the Province of Iloilo, Province of Bohol, and in Laoang, Northern Samar.
As PAGASA Visayas Regional Services Division covers Palawan, two Doppler radars were mounted as well in the towns of Quezon and Busuanga.
Automatic weather stations have reached at least 54 in the entire Visayas, while 14 coastal radars have been mounted to monitor sea condition.
A new weather station was also opened in the town of Siquijor, Province of Siquijor.
Further, river basin forecasting centers are also established.
PAGASA Mactan has its own calibration center which does not make it necessary anymore to send collated data to the central office.
Quiblat takes pride that PAGASA has aligned with the standards observed by the World Meteorological Organization.
Furthermore, there are two projects seen to harness PAGASA'S forecasting capability and make warnings and advisories easier to understand. One of which is the use of artificial intelligence (AI) or algorithms to process real-time data from weather stations.
