VOLUME 7 NUMBER 2 (July to December 2014)

Philipp. Sci. Lett. 2014 7 (2) 275-292
available online: July 30, 2014

*Corresponding author
Email Address: lessandro.garciano@dlsu.edu.ph
Received: June 11, 2014
Revised: July 23, 2014
Accepted: June 13, 2014

ARTICLE

Probabilistic wind contouring and hazard mapping of barangay San Juan, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, Philippines

¹Undergraduate Student, Department of Civil Engineering, De La Salle University,
   Manila, Philippines 
²Associate Professor, Department of Civil Engineering, De La Salle University, Manila,
   Philippines 

Each year the resilience of the Filipino people is challenged by several natural disasters such as typhoons, floods and storm surges. Typhoons, which have the highest frequency and which cost the most damage continue to take their toll on lives, property, livelihood and, worse, inflict untold trauma on affected families. In view of the risks posed by extreme wind speeds (during typhoons), the authors take a step to address this problem by developing a probabilistic wind contour map and wind hazard map of a specific barangay. The maps developed for barangay San Juan, Surigao City, Surigao del Norte, can be used by the local government unit and residents to evaluate and possibly reduce the risks in this area during strong typhoons. The highlights in the development of the maps are the following: (a) the generalized extreme value distribution was used to model the annual extreme wind speeds and the extrapolation of 50, 100 and 150 year return wind speeds, (b) application of correction factors to account for shielding effects of houses, and (c) the use of geographic information technology to create contour and hazard maps. Hopefully, the results can be replicated for the other areas in the country as a step towards "climate-proofing" our communities.