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MANILA – A typhoon of winds nearly 100 miles per hour was heading toward the central Philippines on Thursday, gathering strength as it spread across the Pacific Ocean, the state meteorology office said.
Typhoon Vongfong was traveling slowly west at about 10 m.p.h., and its eye passed Thursday near the northern Samar province in eastern Philippines, according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration.
Forecasters predicted it could drop torrential rains by Saturday on a wide area of the Philippines, including possibly Luzon, the country’s largest island, which has a population of 60 million and includes the capital Manila.
Much of the island remains closed due to the coronavirus epidemic, which could complicate emergency efforts if the storm hits the island with particular force.
“This will definitely add to our emergency situation,” said Harry Roque, spokesman for President Rodrigo Duterte. “While the areas expected to be affected by the typhoon are not very devastated by Covid-19, we have established some guidelines.”
He said that any family brought to evacuation areas would have to observe strict patterns of social distancing. But judging by evacuations during previous typhoons, he acknowledged that “enforcing that would be a challenge.”
The country’s civil defense office said the storm could cause some damage to houses made of lightweight materials, and advised those living along the coasts to move to evacuation shelters.
Meteorological authorities said the storm was gathering steam on Thursday.
“Further intensification is still likely before the typhoon makes landfall,” Pagasa, the weather agency, said in a notice Thursday morning. “Along with large storm surges, this storm surge can cause life-threatening coastal flooding.”
The Philippines is in a typhoon belt, and at least 20 storms, some of them deadly, generally strike the country every year.
In 2003, more than 6,000 people died when super typhoon Haiyan caused widespread devastation, mainly in the central city of Tacloban, which was inundated by massive storm surges.
