A hyperlocal safety guide for Tacloban City — built around the one hazard that defines this coast: storm surge from super typhoons. The lesson of Yolanda. Libre. Walang download.
For Tacloban, the deadliest hazard is not wind — it is storm surge. When Super Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan) hit on 8 November 2013, a tsunami-like wall of seawater up to about 7 meters high filled downtown, San Jose, Anibong, and Magallanes within minutes. The single rule that saves lives here: when PAGASA raises a storm-surge warning, evacuate inland and uphill before landfall — do not shelter near the coast. This guide is built around that rule, with neighborhood-level evacuation and verified hotlines.
Get free Tacloban storm-surge + typhoon alerts on Nova → walang download, walang accountTacloban sits at the head of San Pedro Bay, a funnel-shaped inlet that traps and amplifies storm surge — and much of the city is only about 5 meters above sea level. That geography turned Typhoon Yolanda into the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record. Per post-storm field surveys, the surge reached a maximum inundation height of about 7 meters (early estimates put it near 7.5 m), water levels peaked in roughly 10 minutes, and flows tore through the high-density downtown blocks at up to 7 m/s. Nationwide, Yolanda killed about 6,300 people, with over 1,000 still missing, and left around 4 million homeless. The hardest-hit areas were the coastal ones: the San Jose District near the airport, Anibong (where cargo ships were thrown onto the shore), Magallanes, and the downtown barangays facing the bay. This is why "go inland, go uphill" is the whole guide.
Sources: PAGASA (storm-surge warnings), NDRRMC (Yolanda casualties), surge-height field surveys via ScienceDirect (Leyte Gulf storm-surge study), and UNDRR (Ten years after Haiyan).
The single most important move in Tacloban is to evacuate before the typhoon makes landfall when PAGASA raises a storm-surge warning — do not wait for the wind or the water. Storm surge is a sudden, tsunami-like rise of the sea driven by a typhoon's winds; it is not a flood that creeps up slowly. PAGASA issues separate storm-surge warnings alongside its wind signals (Signal No. 1 to 5), and these warnings are the trigger to leave. The danger is current, not just historic: during Typhoon Pepito (Man-yi) in November 2024, PAGASA issued storm-surge warnings for low-lying coastal communities in Eastern Visayas. Treat every storm-surge warning for Leyte as an order to move.
BAGO (before): Bantayan ang PAGASA — wind signal at storm-surge warning. Maghanda ng go-bag at alamin ang inyong evacuation center sa mataas na lugar.
PAG MAY WARNING: Bumakwit agad ang coastal at low-lying barangays — habang madaan pa ang kalsada at bago mag-landfall.
HUWAG: Huwag magpaiwan sa balay malapit sa dagat, kahit matibay ito. Ang surge ay pumapasok sa loob ng ilang minuto lang.
In a storm surge, "up" must mean inland and uphill — not just the second floor of a coastal house. Tacloban's terrain rises from about 5 meters at the bayfront to hills reaching over 500 meters inland, so safety is a direction: away from San Pedro Bay and Cancabato Bay, toward higher ground. Your specific evacuation center is assigned by your barangay — usually a school, covered court, or hall on high ground, with the Tacloban City Convention Center (Astrodome) historically used as a major shelter. After Yolanda, the city built designated permanent evacuation sites and a relocation zone in Tacloban North; coastal districts like San Jose, Anibong, and Magallanes evacuate first. Do not rely on a memorized list — which centers are active changes with every storm. For Tacloban City's official, current evacuation-center list and CDRRMO advisories, check tacloban.gov.ph (City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, CDRRMO).
The coastal and low-lying barangays facing the bays are the most dangerous in a storm surge — and they are exactly the ones that must evacuate first. The highest-risk areas are the San Jose District (near the airport, on a narrow low spit), Anibong (where the surge beached cargo ships in 2013, with an unstable hillside behind it), Magallanes, and the downtown barangays fronting San Pedro Bay and Cancabato Bay. Tacloban's urban drainage runs through the Mangonbangon and Abucay rivers into Anibong Bay and the Burayan and Tanghas-Lirang rivers into Cancabato Bay, so riverside areas like Old Road Sagkahan also flood. If you live in any of these, do not wait to see the water — when PAGASA issues a storm-surge warning, move inland and uphill early. The DENR has repeatedly classified large parts of Tacloban as "highly prone" to storm surge, flooding, and landslide.
Source: surge-impact mapping of San Jose, Anibong & the downtown bayfront via UNDRR and Inquirer (DENR: Tacloban "highly prone" to storm surges).
Storm surge is the headline risk, but Tacloban faces other hazards too. Lindol: if the ground shakes, do Duck, Cover, and Hold — and if a strong or long quake hits near the coast, move to high ground after shaking, because the same low coastline that floods in a surge is also tsunami-exposed. Baha: heavy typhoon rain overwhelms the Mangonbangon, Abucay, and Burayan river systems, so riverside and low-lying barangays flood even without a direct surge — read our Baha guide. The hills behind Anibong and the city's inland slopes can also fail in prolonged rain (MGB tracks rain-induced landslide risk), so do not assume "uphill" means "build on a steep slope." For all of these, the routine is the same: monitor PAGASA, evacuate early, and never cross moving water.
In any life-threatening emergency in Tacloban, call 911 — it is the nationwide emergency number and works across Leyte and Eastern Visayas. For medical, rescue, or disaster help you can also reach the Philippine Red Cross at 143. These numbers are verified and active nationwide.
911 — National emergency (police, fire, medical, rescue). Works nationwide, including Tacloban.
143 — Philippine Red Cross (rescue, ambulance, blood, welfare).
NDRRMC — (02) 8911-1406 · PAGASA — (02) 8284-0800 · PHIVOLCS — (02) 8929-9254 · Coast Guard — (02) 8527-8481.
For Tacloban City's current CDRRMO / rescue (TACRU) hotline, check the official Tacloban City government site → tacloban.gov.ph (CDRRMO). We do not publish unverified local numbers — for life-safety calls, use 911 or the city's official page. See our full emergency hotlines guide for the complete verified list.
Verified national lines per the Philippine emergency hotlines guide. City-specific numbers are intentionally not printed — confirm the current CDRRMO/rescue number on tacloban.gov.ph.
Know before the next super typhoon — turn on Nova storm-surge alerts (free)When PAGASA raises a storm-surge warning, bumakwit nang maaga — bago mag-landfall. Ang storm surge ay tsunami-like na pader ng tubig, hindi mabagal na baha: sa Yolanda umabot ito ng mga 7 metro at napuno ang downtown Tacloban sa loob ng mga 10 minuto. Pumunta sa loob at sa mataas na lugar, palayo sa baybayin. Huwag magpaiwan sa balay malapit sa dagat, kahit matibay — pumunta sa high-ground evacuation center.
Field surveys after Typhoon Yolanda (Haiyan, 8 November 2013) recorded a maximum storm-surge inundation height of about 7 meters in Tacloban, with early estimates as high as ~7.5 m. The city sits at the head of San Pedro Bay and much of it is only ~5 m above sea level, which is why the surge was catastrophic. Yolanda killed about 6,300 people nationwide — the deadliest Philippine typhoon on record.
Kun nagpagawas an PAGASA hin storm-surge warning, bumakwit dayon — antes mag-landfall an bagyo. An storm surge usa nga pader hin tubig, pariho hin tsunami, diri hinay nga baha: ha Yolanda umabot ini hin mga 7 metros ngan napuno an downtown Tacloban ha mga 10 minutos. Pakadto ha sulod ngan ha bukid (high ground), pahirayo ha baybayon. Ayaw pagpabilin ha balay nga hirani ha dagat, bisan marig-on ini.
Ang mga coastal at low-lying na barangay: ang San Jose District (malapit sa airport), Anibong, Magallanes, at ang downtown na nakaharap sa San Pedro Bay at Cancabato Bay — karamihan ay mga 5 metro lang ang taas sa dagat. Kung nandito kayo, lumikas nang maaga papunta sa mataas na lugar pag may PAGASA storm-surge warning. Huwag hintaying tumaas ang tubig.
Sundan ang PAGASA para sa typhoon track, wind signal (1–5), at hiwalay na storm-surge warning. Ang storm surge ay biglaang pagtaas ng dagat dahil sa hangin ng bagyo — pinakadelikado sa coastal Tacloban dahil nasa dulo ng San Pedro Bay ang lungsod. Noong Typhoon Pepito (Nob 2024), naglabas ang PAGASA ng storm-surge warning para sa Eastern Visayas. Lumikas nang maaga.
Official sources: PAGASA (typhoon & storm-surge warnings), NDRRMC (national disaster response), PHIVOLCS (earthquakes & tsunami), and your Tacloban City government / CDRRMO for local evacuation and rescue.
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Nova Citizen guides are fact-checked against official Philippine sources. Read our editorial policy or email [email protected] with corrections.