Typhoon Bopha hit the Philippines island of Mindanao in December 2012, killing over 1,000 people and displacing thousands more who lived in evacuation camps for months. Economist Philip Brown studies how natural disasters impact poverty, and estimates the typhoon cost the Philippines government 32 billion pesos or $780 million in recovery costs. While the government appealed for financial assistance, the response was less than expected due to perceptions of the Philippines as relatively wealthy despite the disaster significantly affecting the country's economic health in 2013.

1. Philip H. Brown, Economist: Costs
of Recovery Following Typhoon
Bopha

2. •Philip H. Brown, a developmental economist, studies the causes and effects of
poverty on the individual and national scales.
Among other influencing factors, he examines the impact of natural disasters
on poverty levels across the globe.

3. •In December of 2012, Typhoon Bopha hit Mindanao, the southernmost
Philippine island.
The storm took the lives of more than a thousand residents and displaced
thousands more, a large percentage of whom took to living in evacuation
camps.
As of February 2013, more than 6,000 people were still living in these tent-city
communities.

4. •Several weeks after the storm, the government released an estimate that the
storm would cost the country approximately 32 billion pesos, or 780 million
dollars.
The government has appealed for financial assistance, but the response has
been less than sufficient.

5. •Some experts attribute this result to the global perception of the country as
relatively comfortable in regards to wealth, which reduces its media appeal
considerably.
However, government officials expect recovery costs to have a palpable effect
on economic health, particularly in the 2013 fiscal year.

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