The Atlanta Journal-Constitution
Typhoon’s landfall fuels new worries about coronavirus
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 afternoon, the typhoon had weakened somewhat 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 that 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 afternoon by slamming into the eastern island of Samar with the strength of a Category 3 hurricane. By Friday morning, 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.
By midafternoon Friday, the storm had weakened as it wound its way up Luzon, with estimated maximum sustained winds of nearly 70 mph. It was expected to bring heavy showers over Luzon’s eastern seaboard.
Images on Twitter 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 that 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.
More than 2,000 families had fled to evacuation centers in the central province of Northern Samar.