Typhoon Haiyan: Lessons for Urban Disaster Response and Recovery

In 2013, Typhoon Haiyan, the strongest ever to make landfall, devastated the Philippine city of Tacloban. Despite being crippled by the storm, the local government strove to coordinate recovery efforts towards a better, more resilient Tacloban.

This briefing examines the challenges the city government faced, first in the immediate humanitarian response and later during the recovery and rehabilitation phases. Drawing on these experiences, it makes recommendations for local and national government and humanitarian agencies to improve their capacity for a more coordinated, efficient and sustainable response to future disasters. The briefing also offers a snapshot of how the city government has implemented lessons learnt from Typhoon Haiyan with positive effect.