#HindiTama: Graphic compares Supertyphoon Lawin with Supertyphoon Yolanda

#HindiTama is an initiative of GMA News Online to shed light on viral hoaxes and misinformation on the web.

Typhoon Lawin's development into a supertyphoon just before it made landfall in Northern Luzon last October 19 naturally prompted comparisons with 2013's disastrous Yolanda—which, according to experts, is still the strongest cyclone ever to make landfall.

After the typhoon left the Philippines, the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) earning praise for independently handling the relief operations. 

But the relief work was quickly picked up and turned into a political issue, with observers comparing the Duterte government's handling of the disaster with that of the Aquino administration post-Yolanda:

The post was shared over 2,000 times since it was uploaded on October 23.

However, Japan-based meteorologist Robert Speta quickly shot down the comparison and urged the public not to panic over the misinformed post.

"Yolanda was a much stronger storm by official records, and it wasn't even close," he said.

He pointed out that cyclones' actual strength is gleaned from its reported sustained wind speed, not its gusts.

Official PAGASA updates posited Yolanda's maximum sustained winds on landfall at 235kph, while Lawin's strength at landfall was 225 kph.

"During Lawin's peak, no one in official circles was asking if it was as strong as Yolanda. We didn't have to," Speta said.

Speta allayed fears over Lawin's ominously larger diameter compared to Yolanda, explaining that much of a cyclone's perceived size is comprised of upper-level clouds that do not directly affect weather conditions on the ground.

He also pointed out that differences in landscape and population also contributed to the lower casualty figures in Lawin's aftermath.

As a coup de grace, Speta chided the poster for not even getting the photographs right:

"Was the meme-maker so lazy that they had to just put the same picture to represent each storm? I mean, at least have the correct pictures of the storms your talking about."

"Ultimately, who was president would not have factored into the outcome of either event. Geography and the true magnitude of the storm play a much bigger role," Speta concluded. —JST, GMA News