Maps demonstrating areas vulnerable to elevated water levels causedby hurricanes in coastal provinces are at the heart of a project to copewith super typhoons conducted by the National Steering Committee forFlood Control and Prevention.

The project comes onthe heels of the historic storm Haiyan, the strongest cyclone everrecorded on land that claimed at least 7,350 lives as it devastatedlarge parts of the central Philippines . The maps create a scientificbase for local and central agencies to stay proactive in designingplans to addressing super typhoon responses in the future.

The National Hydro-Meteorology Forecasting Centre calculated theeffects a future super typhoon, like that of Haiyan, could have for thenorthern port city of Hai Phong .

The resultsshowed the highest water level in the city could exceed 5.3 meters,above most of the current sea dykes and submerging many of the innerdistricts. Many areas could be flooded under one or two metres of water.

The inadequate dyke system poses a serious risk in the future as the sea level rises in response to climate change.

Scientists encouraged expanding in-depth research studies in the fieldto effectively serve current and future typhoon response initiatives,including evaluating the exact submergence possibility caused by supertyphoons.

Evaluations by the Ministry of NaturalResources and Environment indicate that storms occurring in the north ofthe East Sea are likely to reduce in frequency but rise inintensity, causing serious human and structural losses.

According to the World Meteorological Organisation, the categorisationof super storms involve those with wind speeds over 51 metres persecond or 184 kilometres per hour, and a low barometric pressure in theeye of the storm of 927 millibars.-VNA