Typhoon risk perception and preparedness after Sendong in Bayug Island
Paper Details
Typhoon risk perception and preparedness after Sendong in Bayug Island
Abstract
This study examines how residents of Bayug Island interpret typhoon-related environmental risk after tropical storm Sendong and how this perception shapes household and community preparedness. Drawing from a focus group discussion with eleven residents and supporting key informant interviews, the study used an interpretive qualitative design to analyze lived disaster experience, coastal and flood exposure, local warning systems, livelihood dependence, and household mobility. Findings show that Sendong recalibrated residents’ environmental risk perception by transforming familiar signs such as rainfall, river rise, and warnings into more immediate signals of danger. Preparedness became practical, anticipatory, and evacuation-oriented through go-bags, warning monitoring, trusted local leadership, household protective actions, and agreed evacuation points. However, preparedness remained uneven because poverty, livelihood assets, caregiving duties, fear of theft, mobility limits, and structural constraints shaped residents’ capacity to act. The study concludes that disaster preparedness in coastal communities is a human-environment process shaped by environmental exposure, memory, local communication, and socioeconomic conditions.
Ali I, Shaik R, Maruthi AY, Azman A, Singh P, Bala JD, Adeleke AO, Rafatullah M, Ismail N, Ahmad A, Hossain K. 2022. Impacts of climate change on coastal communities. In: Research Anthology on Environmental and Societal Impacts of Climate Change. IGI Global. https://doi.org/10.4018/978-1-6684-3686-8.ch082
Bonfanti RC, Oberti B, Ravazzoli E, Rinaldi A, Ruggieri S, Schimmenti A. 2024. The Role of Trust in Disaster Risk Reduction: A Critical Review. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health 21(1), 29. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijerph21010029
Dhar T, Bornstein L, Lizarralde G, Nazimuddin SM. 2023. Risk perception: A lens for understanding adaptive behaviour in the age of climate change? Narratives from the Global South. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 95, 103886. https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2023.103886
Gadamer HG. 2004. Truth and Method. 2nd revised ed. Continuum, United States.
Kesavan PC, Swaminathan MS. 2006. Managing extreme natural disasters in coastal areas. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society A: Mathematical, Physical and Engineering Sciences 364(1845), 2191–2216. https://doi.org/10.1098/rsta.2006.1822
Office of Civil Defense–Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Region X. 2012. Tropical Storm Sendong Post-Disaster Needs Assessment: Final Report. https://reliefweb.int/report/philippines/tropical-storm-sendong-post-disaster-needs-assessment
PeaceBuilders Community. 2012. Final Report on Typhoon Sendong Relief Operations: Typhoon Sendong (International Code: Washi). Peace and Reconciliation Journal, January 2012 Edition. https://peacebuilderscommunity.org/parjournal/2012/2012.01.pdf
Schmidt LK. 2006. Understanding Hermeneutics. Acumen Publishing, United Kingdom.
United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction. 2019. Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2019. United Nations, Switzerland. https://www.undrr.org/publication/global-assessment-report-disaster-risk-reduction-2019
Dinah Millendez*, Lex Rei Brendon Hilario, Jay Rey Alovera, Elizabeth Edan Albiento, Melgie Alas, Peter Suson, 2026. Typhoon risk perception and preparedness after Sendong in Bayug Island. J. Biodiv. Environ. Sci., 28(6), 120-128.
Copyright © 2026 by the Authors. This article is an open access article and distributed under the terms and conditions of the Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 (CC BY 4.0) license.