DMAPS Looking Forward: Calling for “Typhoon Engineers”

by Benito M. Pacheco(1), and Ronwaldo Emmanuel R. Aquino(2), 2005, Proceedings of the PICE National Convention, Manila, Philippines, Philippine Institute of Civil Engineers (PICE).  DMAPS stands for "Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness Strategies," and is one of the committees of the PICE.  Visit the PICE website for more details.

(1) Chairman, PICE Committee on DMAPS and DQRP
(2) Member, PICE Committee on DMAPS and DQRP


ABSTRACT: The Philippines is considered to be historically one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world. Wind storms including typhoons rank as the worst natural disaster type, with an annual average of 20 tropical cyclones passing the Philippine Area of Responsibility, and with 9 landfalling or actually crossing the archipelago. This paper advocates more activities in the areas of typhoon disaster engineering, research, and mitigation, or collectively as now referred to here, “typhoon engineering,” similar to attention to the effects of devastating earthquakes. Meanwhile, there are numerous sources of available information for “typhoon engineers,” and some are introduced in this paper. One such information is typhoon damage information. A photo gallery of damages due to strong winds of Typhoon Unding in November 2004 is presented as an example. The paper suggests how information such as these may be used in developing historical “disaster maps” and current “vulnerability maps” according to the strategies of the PICE DMAPS (Disaster Mitigation and Preparedness Strategies). The paper then presents a history of wind speed maps (“hazard maps”) that are used in the NSCP (National Structural Code of the Philippines). Short comments on the NSCP wind load provisions, intended to inspire more research, are also provided. The paper ends with some ideas for research in other fields of “typhoon engineering” and a call for “Typhoon Engineers,” as another step in future activities of the PICE Committee on DMAPS and DQRP.

KEYWORDS: Philippines, typhoon engineering, disaster maps, vulnerability maps, hazard maps