Wind Engineering in the Philippines

This is a summary report of papers authored by BM Pacheco, WT Tanzo, and RER Aquino presented at the recent APCWE7 and APEC-WW2009 in Taiwan in November 2009.

The Philippines is one of the most disaster-prone countries in the world, being in what some would call the "Typhoon Gateway of the Pacific," experiencing about 9 total, 5 destructive, and 2 very strong landfalling cyclones annually.  Wind storms rank as the worst type of natural disaster with much more affected populations, casualties, and damages collectively compared to earthquakes (2nd), flooding and landslides (3rd), and volcanic eruptions (4th), collectively.