Bagyong Paparating: Paano Maghanda Bago Mahuli ang Lakas

When Super Typhoon Yolanda (Hainan) struck Eastern Visayas in 2013, evacuation orders had already been issued for hours before landfall. Barangay officials went house to house. And still, family after family said the same thing: “Hihintayin pa namin kung talagang lakas.” They were waiting for proof the typhoon was as bad as forecasted — waiting for certainty that never arrives in time. The pattern documented in post-Yolanda disaster response reviews was consistent: the gap between a safe evacuation and a dangerous one was almost never about the warning coming too late. It was about what happened after the warning arrived.

Decide Your Trigger Now, Before the Storm Has a Name

Waiting for certainty is the trap. The families who leave in time — before roads flood, before storm surge cuts off escape routes — are almost always the ones who decided their trigger in advance. Not when they saw the news. Not when their neighbor left. Before any typhoon was even on the horizon.

A trigger is a specific condition, not a feeling. It sounds like this: “If our barangay is placed under mandatory evacuation, we leave within the hour.” Or: “If PAGASA raises Signal No. 3 and our area is within 10 km of the coastline, we go to my sister’s house in higher ground.” The more specific you make it now, the less you have to think when you’re scared and the rain is already heavy.

Write it down. Put it somewhere the whole family can see it. Then go one step further: tell your family what happens if one parent is at work when the trigger is met. Who gets the kids? Who takes the elderly lolo or lola? Gaano Ka Handa ang Pamilya Mo Kapag Sumapit ang Kalamidad? covers how to build this kind of household communication plan so the answer isn’t a panicked phone call during a storm.

Pre-deciding also protects you from the most dangerous moment in typhoon response: the period when the typhoon looks like it might weaken. Many families waited through that uncertainty during Yolanda and during Super Typhoon Odette (Rai) in 2021, hoping the worst would miss them. For households near the coast or near rivers, that window of hope is exactly when you should already be gone.

What Signal No. 5 Actually Means for Your Family

PAGASA’s Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal system runs from Signal No. 1 to Signal No. 5, which was introduced in 2015 specifically for super typhoons with winds exceeding 185 km/h within 12 hours. Most Filipinos are familiar with the lower signals — school suspensions, cancelled flights — but Signal No. 5 is a different category of emergency entirely. At that level, catastrophic damage is expected: reinforced concrete structures can be compromised, and storm surge in low-lying coastal areas can reach several meters.

The critical misconception is that signal numbers are a measure of how scared you should feel right now, when they are actually a measure of how fast conditions will deteriorate. Signal No. 3 or 4 may feel manageable in the moment. Signal No. 5 conditions will not give you time to reconsider. By the time winds at that level arrive, outdoor movement is not just dangerous — it can be fatal. Check PAGASA’s official typhoon bulletins directly at pagasa.dost.gov.ph for real-time signal updates and storm tracks.

Use the signal level as one input in your trigger decision, not as the only input. A coastal barangay under Signal No. 3 with storm surge warnings in effect is more dangerous than an inland highland area under Signal No. 4. Your geography matters as much as the signal number.

Storm Surge Is Not a Big Wave — Understanding the Real Threat

Almost every post-disaster assessment of typhoon response in the Philippines has documented the same misconception about storm surge. People imagine it as a dramatic wave, something you would see coming from a distance and have time to run from. Storm surge is not that. It is a rise in sea level — sometimes 3 to 6 meters — that moves inland like a rapidly rising flood. It can fill the ground floor of a concrete house in minutes. In Super Typhoon Yolanda (Hainan), the storm surge in parts of Eastern Visayas — recorded at heights of up to 5 to 7 meters in Leyte — was among the deadliest aspects of the entire disaster, accounting for the majority of the more than 6,000 confirmed deaths.

If your barangay is in a storm surge advisory area — listed in PAGASA bulletins and on your LGU’s hazard maps — the rule is simple: you do not shelter in a ground-floor structure. If you cannot reach a designated evacuation center, you go to the highest floor of the strongest nearby building. But the better option, always, is to leave before surge conditions arrive. Storm surge does not give warning the way wind does. There is no howling sound that tells you it’s coming.

Check your local DRRMO (Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office) or visit ndrrmc.gov.ph to find out if your barangay is in a storm surge hazard zone. If you have never looked this up, that is the single most important thing to do after reading this.

Your Roof, Your Walls, and What the Wind Will Actually Do

Corrugated metal roofing — yero — is the most common roofing material across Philippine homes, and it becomes one of the most dangerous objects during a super typhoon. Sheets that were not properly fastened, that have started to rust or loosen at the edges, or that are simply older construction can become airborne projectiles at sustained winds above 150 km/h. In post-typhoon damage assessments conducted by NDRRMC and LGU engineering teams after multiple storms, partial roof loss was consistently the most common structural failure — and it almost always starts at the edges and corners, not the center.

Before typhoon season peaks, walk around the outside of your house and look at where the roofing meets the wall. Look for gaps, lifted edges, visible rust along the fasteners, or areas where the roofing has started to pull away. A roll of galvanized wire and additional roofing screws are inexpensive items to keep on hand. Is Your Home Ready for Earthquakes and Typhoons? goes deeper into structural checks you can do without professional help.

If your home has a sawali or light wood exterior, or is built on stilts near a flood-prone area, the calculus changes: structural reinforcement before the typhoon is less important than knowing your evacuation route and leaving early. No amount of tape on windows or sandbags at the door changes the risk profile of a light structure in a surge zone.

What to Have Ready Before the Signal Rises (Not the Night Before)

The worst time to pack a go-bag is when rain is already hitting the windows. Here is what should already be assembled, checked, and ready to carry:

• Water: At least 4 liters per person per day, for a minimum of 3 days. Store-bought bottled water is fine; so is a clean, sealed container you refill regularly. Check the rotation schedule for your supplies so nothing expires unnoticed.
• Food: Ready-to-eat or easy-to-cook items — canned goods, instant noodles, biscuits — for at least 3 days. Include a manual can opener.
• Medicines: A full 7-day supply of any maintenance medications. This is the item most often forgotten, and the one most difficult to replace after a typhoon when pharmacies are closed or flooded.
• Documents in a waterproof bag: National ID, birth certificates, land titles, insurance papers, PhilHealth and SSS cards. A waterproof document pouch is a small investment that has saved families from months of post-disaster paperwork.
• Flashlight with extra batteries or a hand-crank model: Power outages after a super typhoon can last days to weeks, not hours.
• Battery-powered or hand-crank radio: When cell signals are down, this is how PAGASA and LGU announcements reach you.
• Cash in small bills: ATMs and e-wallet services may be inaccessible for several days after landfall.
• Clothing for 3 days, including rain gear — prioritise quick-drying fabrics, and include a change of footwear that can handle muddy, flooded conditions rather than standard rubber slippers, which provide no ankle support on debris-covered evacuation routes.
• Basic first aid kit — include oral rehydration salts, antiseptic, and any prescription medications, since post-typhoon flooding raises the risk of leptospirosis and wound infection.

For families with infants: formula, extra diapers, and oral rehydration salts are essential. For elderly members with mobility needs, consider a lightweight foldable wheelchair or walking aid that can go into the evacuation bag. The Philippine Red Cross publishes family preparedness guides specific to Filipino households at redcross.org.ph. NDRRMC’s ndrrmc.gov.ph also maintains region-specific advisories and preparedness resources updated each typhoon season.

Children, the Elderly, and Members With Special Needs — The Non-Negotiable Part of Your Plan

Children process disasters differently than adults. Post-disaster mental health assessments conducted after typhoons in the Visayas and Bicol regions have documented increased anxiety and sleep disturbance among school-age children in the months following major storms — responses that are more manageable when children had a clear understanding of the family’s plan before the event. Before the typhoon season, talk to young children about what storms are and what your family’s plan is. Not to frighten them — but because children who understand the plan in advance are calmer during the event. Showing them where the go-bag is, what the evacuation center looks like, and who will pick them up from school gives them something concrete to hold onto instead of fear.

For elderly family members who require regular medication, dialysis, or oxygen support, the planning window is longer. Your barangay hall or local DRRMO can tell you which evacuation centers in your area are designated as medical-capable facilities — this is information LGUs are required to maintain under the NDRRMC framework, and your DRRMO focal person can provide it before any storm is on the forecast. Waiting until a Signal No. 4 is raised to figure this out means making that call in the middle of chaos. Gaano Ka-Handa ang Pamilya Mo Kapag Tumama ang Sakuna? has a practical checklist for mapping out these household-level decisions before any storm arrives.

Pets are a real factor in evacuation decisions. Many families have delayed or refused evacuation because they could not bring their animals. Know in advance which evacuation centers in your municipality accept pets, or identify a safe structure on higher ground where animals can be temporarily secured. Having a plan for your pets means your evacuation decision for your family does not get complicated at the last moment.

The Mistakes That Make a Dangerous Situation Worse

The most consistent mistake seen across typhoon response is not the lack of supplies — it is the timing of the decision to leave. Families who wait until the typhoon is making landfall to evacuate are forced to travel in the exact conditions that make travel most deadly: flooded roads, downed power lines, zero visibility. Evacuation orders aren’t usually too late. The harder problem is that people do not move when they hear them.

The second mistake is returning home too early. After the eyewall passes and there is a brief calm, it is tempting to go back and check on property. But if you are in the path of the typhoon’s rear quadrant, or if a second landfall is expected, that calm is temporary. Confirm with PAGASA’s bulletin — not neighborhood rumors — that the typhoon has fully passed before any movement outside.

A third, less obvious mistake: opening doors and windows to “equalize pressure” during the storm. This is a persistent myth. Opening a door or window during peak winds does not reduce damage — it introduces wind directly into the structure and dramatically increases the chance of roof failure. Keep all openings sealed and stay away from windows.

Finally, do not shelter under a large tree or near a riverbank. Landslides and flash floods triggered by typhoon rainfall can happen hours or even a day after a storm passes, particularly in mountainous provinces. If you live near a hillside, ravine, or riverbank, see Bago Bumagsak ang Lupa: Signs You Must Never Ignore for what to watch for after the rain stops.

The One Thing to Do Today — It Takes Less Than 10 Minutes

Look up your barangay’s hazard classification. Go to ndrrmc.gov.ph or contact your local DRRMO and find out two things: whether your area is in a storm surge hazard zone, and where your designated evacuation center is located. Write both down and put them somewhere visible in your home.

That is it. You do not need to buy anything or reorganize your house today. But knowing these two facts changes everything about how your family responds when the next typhoon bulletin is issued. It turns “we’ll figure it out when it comes” into a decision you’ve already made.

For the bigger preparation picture — go-bags, household communication plans, structural checks — those can be built over the next few weeks. Stay or Go? Making the Right Call During a Typhoon is a good next read for working through the evacuation decision framework in more detail. And if you want to think about what happens to your home and finances after a typhoon, Is Your Home Actually Protected When Disaster Strikes? covers the gaps that most Filipino households don’t realize exist until it’s too late.

Typhoon preparedness is not one big dramatic act. It is a series of small decisions made before the stress arrives — and the smallest one you make today is the one that matters most when the next storm is 48 hours away.

Official typhoon advisories and hazard maps: PAGASA · NDRRMC · Philippine Red Cross