Stay Safe Daily Emergency numbers

Typhoons: what to do before, during and after

Watch the wind signal PAGASA has raised over your province, get the go bag and the documents above the water line, and go when your barangay says go.

By Hamza Rivera, updated

Short answer: PAGASA raises a Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal from 1 to 5 over a province, and a higher number means stronger wind and less warning time. Before a typhoon, the guide advises keeping the go bag ready and leaving when your municipal disaster office or barangay tells you to. PAGASA notes a signal describes the general wind, so exposed places can see stronger gusts.

Written for the Philippines. In an emergency here, the number is 911.

PAGASA raises a wind signal over a province before the wind arrives. Each signal has a warning lead time, which is the most time you have before the wind threat starts: 36 hours for Signal 1 and 12 hours for Signals 4 and 5. The wind can arrive sooner. Most of what follows has to be finished in that window, which is why a household that has already packed is a household that only has to leave.

See the emergency numbers

The five wind signals, drawn to the wind each one starts at

Each bar is as tall as the wind speed PAGASA sets that signal at, so the jump from 3 to 4 is a real measurement rather than a design choice. The lead time falls as the wind rises, which is the whole point of the scale.

39 km/h 1 62 km/h 2 89 km/h 3 118 km/h 4 185 km/h 5 PAGASA Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal
  • 1 39 to 61 km/h, with 36 hours of warning.
  • 2 62 to 88 km/h, with 24 hours of warning.
  • 3 89 to 117 km/h, with 18 hours of warning.
  • 4 118 to 184 km/h, with 12 hours of warning.
  • 5 185 km/h or higher, with 12 hours of warning.
1
39 to 61 km/h, with 36 hours of warning.
2
62 to 88 km/h, with 24 hours of warning.
3
89 to 117 km/h, with 18 hours of warning.
4
118 to 184 km/h, with 12 hours of warning.
5
185 km/h or higher, with 12 hours of warning.

Source: PAGASA, Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (system in use since 23 March 2022). Read 20 September 2026.

What each PAGASA wind signal means

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signals run from 1 to 5. The higher the number, the stronger the wind and the less time you have.
SignalWindWarning lead time
139 to 61 km/h36 hours
262 to 88 km/h24 hours
389 to 117 km/h18 hours
4118 to 184 km/h12 hours
5185 km/h or higher12 hours

Two things about the scale are easy to miss, and PAGASA states both. A signal describes the general wind over a province, so the wind on a ridge or an exposed shore can be a good deal stronger than the number suggests. And the levels can skip: a province on Signal 1 can go straight to Signal 3 without passing through 2.

Source: PAGASA, Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (system in use since 23 March 2022). Read 20 September 2026.

Typhoons: the three parts of this guide

Each part below carries its own steps and names the agency they came from. The phase you need is usually the one you are already in.

Before: 7 steps During: 4 steps After: 7 steps
Before: 7 steps
Most of this can be done well before a storm is named. The last step is for when your barangay or LGU calls an evacuation.
During: 4 steps
While the wind and rain are on you.
After: 7 steps
Once the wind and rain have passed.

Before

Most of this can be done well before a storm is named. The last step is for when your barangay or LGU calls an evacuation.

  1. Keep up with the weather every day, and follow PAGASA’s advisories on the radio and TV.
  2. Know the warning system in your community, and make sure your family knows it.
  3. Agree an evacuation plan: where the family and any livestock go, and a job for each person.
  4. Securely anchor weak parts of the house and anything loose.
  5. Keep a radio, a flashlight with spare batteries, food that needs little cooking and a first aid kit ready. The full list is on the go bag page.
  6. Near the coast, know the quickest safe way to high ground, and which reinforced buildings your LGU has set aside for evacuation.
  7. Be ready to leave as soon as your municipal disaster office or barangay officials tell you to.

Source: PAGASA, Floods: Flood Safety Rules. Read 9 October 2026.

Source: PAGASA, Storm Surge. Read 23 September 2026. The definition, the Filipino name, the cause, the three factors and the wording of the advice are from that page. The warning level heights and their impacts are set out there as a coloured table image with no text alternative, so the rows were read from the image, the same way the PHIVOLCS drill primer and the rainfall warning icons were.

During

While the wind and rain are on you.

  1. Listen to the radio for emergency instructions.
  2. Stay out of the wind and rain unless you are told to evacuate.
  3. If you are told to evacuate, take your emergency kit, switch off the power and the gas tank, and lock the house.
  4. Do not go swimming or boating in swollen rivers, and beware of roads and bridges under water.

Source: PAGASA, Floods: Flood Safety Rules. Read 9 October 2026.

Source: PAGASA, Storm Surge. Read 23 September 2026. The definition, the Filipino name, the cause, the three factors and the wording of the advice are from that page. The warning level heights and their impacts are set out there as a coloured table image with no text alternative, so the rows were read from the image, the same way the PHIVOLCS drill primer and the rainfall warning icons were.

After

Once the wind and rain have passed.

  1. Do not go into disaster areas. PAGASA says your presence can get in the way of rescue.
  2. Go back into the house with care, with a flashlight. PAGASA says not a lantern or a flame: flammables may be inside.
  3. Watch for fire hazards like broken wires, and report broken power, water, gas and phone lines.
  4. Do not turn on the main switch or use appliances until a competent electrician has checked them.
  5. Do not eat food or drink water until it has been checked for floodwater contamination.
  6. Find and empty containers that hold rainwater. The DOH says more standing water means more mosquitoes and more dengue.
  7. If you waded through floodwater, see a doctor or health centre within 24 to 48 hours. The DOH says not to wait for symptoms. The leptospirosis page explains why.

Source: PAGASA, Floods: Flood Safety Rules. Read 9 October 2026.

Source: DOH, On guard for leptospirosis as rainy season continues, press release of 7 August 2024. Read 9 October 2026.

Paghahanda sa bagyo

Ito ang gabay ng UNICEF Philippines sa Filipino, sa sarili nitong pananalita. Ang natitirang bahagi ng pahinang ito ay nasa Ingles at galing sa PAGASA.

Bago

  • Maging handa at alerto bago pa man dumating ang bagyo sa inyong lugar.
  • Suriin ang bahay kung may sira ang kisame, pinto o bintana, at ipaayos ito agad.
  • Itali ang mga bubong at iba pang maaaring liparin ng hangin.
  • Tiyakin na kumpleto ang iyong emergency go-bag at fully charged ang iyong phone at powerbank.
  • Maging up-to-date sa typhoon signal warnings. Lumikas agad sa evacuation center o ligtas na lugar kapag may babala na mula sa PAGASA, LGU o barangay.
  • Kung madalas magbaha sa lugar, itaas ang mga gamit na maaaring maabutan ng tubig-baha.
  • Ipaliwanag sa mga bata kung paano mag-ingat at maghanda para hindi sila matakot sa bagyo.

Habang

  • Kapag nag-landfall na ang bagyo, tiyakin na laging updated ang pamilya sa mga alert at warning ng LGU at barangay.
  • Stay calm. Stay indoors.
  • Maging up-to-date sa balita tungkol sa bagyo.
  • Ihanda ang emergency go-bag.
  • Ipaliwanag sa pamilya kung ano ang maaaring gawin kung lumala ang sitwasyon.
  • Kung kailangan mag-evacuate, patayin ang kuryente, isara ang tangke ng gas, at i-lock ang mga pinto.
  • Iparamdam at ipaliwanag sa mga bata na walang dapat ikatakot dahil handa na ang pamilya.

Pagkatapos

  • Kapag humina na ang hagupit ng bagyo, tiyaking safe pa rin ang pamilya.
  • Makinig sa balita at tiyaking ligtas na sa labas.
  • Kung nag-evacuate, tiyakin muna na ligtas ang inyong lugar bago bumalik sa bahay.
  • Huwag buksan ang main switch o gamitin ang mga appliance hangga’t hindi pa nasusuri ng isang electrician. (PAGASA)
  • Kumustahin ang mga bata at pakinggan ang kanilang mga iniisip at nararamdaman pagkalipas ng bagyo.

Source: UNICEF Philippines, Emergency preparedness tips: typhoons. Read 23 September 2026. UNICEF publishes this page in Filipino. The lines below are its wording, grouped as it groups them, with two obvious typos corrected (kumala to lumala, and handa ng to handa na). UNICEF’s line on cutting tree branches is left out, as Philippine agencies do not give it, and UNICEF’s “check the power lines yourself” is replaced by PAGASA’s rule, marked (PAGASA), that an electrician checks them before the main switch goes back on. The lines are UNICEF’s own Filipino wording.

Ang paghahanda bago dumating ang bagyo, ang lindol at ang pagputok ng bulkan, sa isang papel na puwedeng i-print: paghahanda sa kalamidad.

The Filipino lines above are UNICEF Philippines’ own typhoon guidance, word for word, so the advice in Filipino comes straight from the agency that published it.

Pack the bag once

Every section above assumes a bag is already packed. There is one list on this site and it covers all four hazards, with UNICEF Philippines named as its source.

Open the go bag checklist

Related guides

Back to all four hazard guides