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MANILA, Philippines – A strong typhoon crashed into eastern Philippines on Thursday after authorities evacuated tens of thousands of people as they tried to avoid the risks of overcrowding viruses in emergency shelters.
Dark clouds envelop the skies as workers bend a billboard to prepare for the arrival of Typhoon Vongfong in Manila, the Philippines, on Thursday May 14, 2020. The first typhoon to hit the country this year roared into the eastern Philippines on Thursday. as authorities work to evacuate tens of thousands of people, avoiding overcrowding in shelters that could spread the coronavirus. AP Photo / Aaron Favila
The first typhoon to hit the country this year quickly gained strength when it blew up from the Pacific and then crashed ashore in the city of San Policarpio in the province of Eastern Samar around noon, said administrator of the meteorological agency Vicente Malano.
The typhoon came as the Philippines is trying to combat the COVID-19 outbreaks in large part by locking Filipinos into their homes and banning gatherings that can trigger infections. More than 11,600 infections, including 772 deaths, have been reported in the country.
Typhoon Vongfong, which was accumulating maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour (93 miles per hour) and gusts of up to 185 kph (115 mph), is forecast to blow northwest and traverse densely populated eastern cities and provinces before leaving on North Sunday.
Overcrowding in emergency shelters is a common scene in the archipelago affected by about 20 typhoons and storms annually and regularly experiencing volcanic eruptions and earthquakes.
Many officials faced a difficult dilemma on how to protect villagers from double threats. The video showed heavy rains and winds swaying the coconut trees, shaking the tin roofs and obscuring visibility in eastern Samar, where some cities lost power.
“This is very complicated,” Mayor Benjamin Ver of a city on the way to the typhoon said by phone.
Jipapad is very prone to landslides and floods. The city in the province of Eastern Samar is surrounded by mountains and joined by two rivers that often grow in storms. The only evacuation centers for its 8,000 villagers are a gymnasium and the town hall where residents could be protected from the typhoon. Ver, who is also the only doctor in town, said he has secured enough face masks to protect his villagers from the virus at city hall when the typhoon strikes.
Observing social distancing “is almost impossible” if all the villagers are crowded into the town hall, but Ver said he would see what else can be done.
Jipapad and the entire Eastern Samar, a province of half a million people, fortunately remain free of coronavirus infections unlike neighboring regions, provincial governor Ben Evardone said. All emergency shelters have been converted to quarantine facilities with medical equipment in the event of outbreaks, but they may have to be reorganized into evacuation centers if large numbers of people need shelter, Evardone told The AP.
North Samar province governor Edwin Ongchuan said he has called for twice the usual number of school buildings to be converted to typhoon shelters to accommodate about 80,000 residents who were forcefully evacuated from coastal villages in high risk.
“If we used 10 school buildings before, we now need 20 to accommodate evacuees with social distancing,” Ongchuan said by phone.
The government meteorological agency warned that “coupled with large swells, this surge can cause life-threatening coastal flooding,” adding that sea travel would be dangerous in regions expected to be mistreated by Vongfong, a Vietnamese word for wasp.
Metropolitan Manila will not be directly hit by the storm, but can be hit by strong winds. Officials were recommended to remove many medical quarantine tents installed outside of hospitals that could fly, Malano said.
The impoverished eastern region initially affected by Vongfong was devastated in 2013 by Typhoon Haiyan, which left more than 7,300 people dead or missing, devastated entire villages, razed ships inland, and displaced more than 5 million.
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