Thousands flee as typhoon aims for main island
MANILA, Philippines — Tens of thousands of people fled to evacuation centers Friday as the first typhoon to hit the Philippines this season barreled toward the main island of Luzon, dumping torrential rains and raising fears that the coronavirus could spread in crowded shelters.
One death was reported in Eastern Samar province as Typhoon Vongfong brought heavy winds and rain, destroying hundreds of buildings as well as crops and fishing boats. By Friday, the typhoon had weakened and was reclassified as a severe tropical storm.
Luzon, home to about 60 million people, has been on an extended lockdown to prevent the spread of the coronavirus.
But with evacuation centers now packed, officials worry they will become breeding grounds for the further spread of the virus. Officials said more than 50,000 people had taken refuge in the centers.
Vongfong made landfall in the Philippines on Thursday, slamming into the eastern island of Samar with the strength of a Category 3 hurricane. By Friday, it was wreaking havoc over the island of Masbate and parts of Quezon province on the southern tip of Luzon.
The Office of Civil Defense in Manila, the capital, which is in Luzon, warned residents living along coastal areas of storm surges of up to 6 feet along the Philippine Islands’ eastern coasts. Moderate to heavy rains were expected for the rest of the day over the Bicol region to the east, as well as metro Manila and the provinces of Rizal, Quezon, Aurora, Laguna, Bulacan, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino.
Images on social media showed tin roofs and trees being blown away. The storm also knocked out electricity and communication lines in large parts of the affected regions.
Mark Timbal, a spokesman for the Office of Civil Defense in Manila, said local officials in areas in the path of the storm were urged to make sure that people taking refuge in evacuation centers were observing social distancing protocols.
“It is a unique situation because it is the first time that we’re going to face a natural hazard like a storm while taking into consideration a pandemic situation,” he said.
Shiewin Taay, mayor of the town of Dingalan in eastern Luzon, said at least 3,000 families living in disasterprone areas had been evacuated. He said the usual evacuation centers had been turned into quarantine facilities to handle COVID19 cases, so local agencies were using schools as temporary shelters.