Typhoon Damage to Households
Attributes
Medium: Animals, Plants and/or Others
Country: China
Analytical Framework(s): Economic Analysis
Study Date: 2010
Publication Date: 2011
Major Result(s)
| Category | Resource/Environmental Good | CNY, per household (2010) |
|---|---|---|
| Household property | house | 2,206.44 |
| Household property | appliances | 3,677.41 |
| Household property | vehicles | 94,266.50 |
| Household property | amenities | 575.90 |
| Household property | others | 478.76 |
| Household products/Produce | crops | 693.85 |
| Household products/Produce | livestock | 12,655.80 |
| Household products/Produce | aquaculture | 40,812.30 |
| Household products/Produce | fishing | 589.77 |
| Lost income | wages | 333.05 |
| Lost income | business | 25,054.90 |
| Lost income | others | 122,444.00 |
| Injury | injured | 5,099.80 |
Study Note: The objectives of the study are as follows: to measure vulnerability to extreme typhoons in the study areas; to measure the adaptive capacity of households to climate change (CC) related events in the study areas; to analyze which adaptation behaviors are undertaken and which adaptive behaviors are not undertaken and the reasons for this at both household and community levels, with reference to specific climate change events; and to identify adaptation gaps and suggest measures to bridge these gaps.
Study Details
Summary: Tropical cyclones, induced by climate change, are happening more frequently and cause serious damage almost every year in China. For this reason, it is necessary to improve the ability of government, communities and households to adapt to climate change and tropical cyclones. Typhoon Saomai was the most powerful typhoon ever to hit Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province, and this report looks at the vulnerability of households as a result of the Saomai disaster and analyzes the factors thatinfluenced vulnerability.. The report analyzes the adaptive capacity of householdsusing the following indicators: infrastructure, economic factors, technology, social factors, skills and knowledge. These indicators, and the factors that influence them,were analyzed using an econometric model analysis. The report also discusses the different adaptive options households could take and the reasons why some options, rather than others, were taken, including those which should have been taken before the typhoon struck, those which should have been performed during the typhoon, and those which were implemented after the typhoon. Finally, the report looks at the gaps between household needs and the reality of coping with typhoon disasters, and gives strategies to improve the ability of households to adapt to typhoons.
Site Characteristics: This study was conducted in Pingyang County, Zhejiang Province, China. Zhejiang consists mostly of hills, which account for about 70% of its total area. Its nominal GDP for 2008 was USD 273.53 billion, with a per capita of USD 4,883. The county is located in the southeast corner of China and the total area of Pingyang County is about 1051.17 km2, including a 22-km coastline. Pingyang has a total population of 0.85 million people. Most of Pingyang county is in the Aojiang River watershed, one of eight major river systems in Zhejiang Province.
Comments: There are other measures that households should have undertaken but did not undertake before the typhoon. These omissions, such as changing the pattern of crop planting, were caused by technical limitations and a lack of money. During the typhoon there were a few measures households could have undertaken and should have undertaken but were unable to. After the typhoon, the main measure households should have undertaken but did not was to move elsewhere - the main reason they did not do so was a lack of money.