Typhoon Melor leaves trail of disruption in the Philippines
Super Typhoon Melor, known locally as Nona, has left a trail of damage and disruption across the northern and central Philippines, according to catastrophe modeling firm AIR Worldwide.
According to the company, six central provinces have been severely affected with damage to buildings, agriculture, and infrastructure. Approximately 720,000 people were evacuated in Bicol Province in advance of Melor’s first landfall and the entire province of more than one million is without power. Power outages also occurred in Bulan and the surrounding areas.
The typhoon struck thePhilippines on Monday, December 14, 2015, at around 3:00 UTC (11:00 am local time) near Batag, Laoang, in the eastern Visayas and carried on until December 15.
Over this time, the typhoon produced five landfalls and had a central pressure of 935 mb and maximum 10-minute sustained wind speeds of 175 km/h (the equivalent of a Category 3 hurricane on the Saffir-Simpson Wind Scale) when it first hit, according to AIR.
Dr Richard Yablonsky, scientist at AIR, said that many regions in the area have been affected due to to Melor’s slow forward speed. Structural damage is not expected for engineered structures, according to AIR, although it said well-constructed engineered buildings could have some damage to roofing and siding, especially to windward corners, rakes, and eaves.
“Some apartment building and shopping centre roof coverings could experience moderate levels of damage, and wall siding may also experience some moderate levels of wind damage,” said the firm.
According to AIR, one- and two-story buildings of mixed construction (concrete and wood) are common in Luzon. In Manila, high-rise commercial and apartment buildings are generally built to stricter code requirements. In addition, commercial and apartment buildings usually have stronger foundations than residential buildings, and these foundations provide stronger resistance to flood loads.
The firm said buildings will respond differently to wind loads, depending upon their construction, height, and occupancy. The duration of damaging winds will also impact potential losses. Strong winds may peel back or blow off galvanized iron roofs and down trees and wooden utility poles, exposing live wires and causing power outages.
Landslides, storm surge, flash floods, and lahar (flows of mud and debris) could cause significant water and structural damage.
According to AIR, flood is much more damaging to the lower floors of multi-story buildings, making the commercial establishments on the first floor of many apartment buildings in the Philippines vulnerable to the flood conditions expected from Typhoon Melor.
AIR said it will monitor the situation will provide updates as warranted by events.
