Storm surge due to 2013 typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) in Leyte Gulf, the Philippines

The present chapter describes the characteristics of the massive storm surge generated by the 2013 Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan), which made landfall on the coast of the Philippines on November 2013. The authors conducted a series of field surveys and numerical analysis in Leyte and Samar Islands in the aftermath of the disaster in order to understand the characteristics of what constituted an almost unprecedented event in the modern era. As a result it was revealed that Yolanda struck Leyte Island at near peak strength, with maximum sustained wind speeds of 160 knots, the strongest in the recorded history of the Western North Pacific. The weather system approached land very quickly, with a forward speed of 41 km/hr as it reached Leyte, which was also one of the fastest among typhoons in the past 6 decades. As a result, Yolanda caused the largest storm surge in the recorded history of Philippines. Storm surge field surveys conducted by the authors recorded a maximum inundation height of 7 m at Tacloban, located at the northern end of Leyte Gulf. Through their interviews with local population and officials, the authors also found that water levels at some locations first lowered and then rapidly began to increase, which is in good agreement with the results of the numerical simulations carried out.