Effectiveness of Emergency Response to Typhoons: Lessons Learned from Historical Typhoon Disasters in Zhuhai, China

Abstract

Typhoons significantly impact socio-economics, varying in impact due to unique characteristics. However, limited studies explore why similar intensity typhoons affect regions differently. This study compares the emergency response measures of Zhuhai, Guangdong Province, China, in response to typhoon Hato (2017), Mangkhut (2018), and Higos (2020). These three similar typhoons offer an empirical opportunity to assess the effectiveness of emergency management. This research builds a timeline of Zhuhai's emergency response measures to the typhoons, collects Weibo data 72 hours before and after the typhoon landfall, performs keyword frequency analysis on contents and analyzes in detail the content of weibo postings, and changes in sentiment. Results show that timely and systematic emergency response measures may reduce disaster losses, which means emergency management is crucial in mitigating typhoon impacts, offering valuable lessons for other coastal cities.