The first typhoon of 2020 is here, and it’s ready to make landfall in the Philippines.

Typhoon Vongfong, called “Ambo” in the Philippines, is rapidly escalating in the east of the country, where it could hit parts of the island from Thursday (May 14) to Saturday (May 16).

The storm is forecast to bring flooding and landslides, as well as strong winds in parts of the eastern Visayas, Catanduanes, Albay, Sorsogon and Masbate, the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) warned on Wednesday.

The Hawaii-based Joint Typhoon Warning Center predicts an even greater escalation in the next 24 hours. Vongfong is expected to reach Category 4 status with winds of 132 mph (212 km / h). That would also make it a super typhoon that would exacerbate the effects of the pandemic on the island nation.

Vongfong formed on Tuesday and quickly escalated into a fierce windlass from a storm that was sweeping toward the island. The United States Joint Typhoon Warning Center in Hawaii said

The Philippines has already had a difficult year, with a volcanic eruption in January and an increasing number of coronavirus cases. The approaching typhoon could accumulate the country’s problems, as it hits the most populated island with heavy rains and strong winds towards the weekend.

Local meteorologists have advised farmers to harvest their crops as soon as possible, as Vongfong has already gone from a weak tropical storm to a robust Category 2 equivalent storm in less than 24 hours, according to the Joint Typhoon Warning Center from the USA USA In Hawaii.

As of Wednesday night local time, the storm was accumulating sustained winds of 103 mph, according to the United States Joint Typhoon Alert Center in Hawaii.

Vongfong, the first named storm in the northern hemisphere, underwent rapid intensification in textbooks, a meteorological process in which typhoons see wind speed increase, forecasters said.

The process occurs when tropical cyclones have access to a relatively calm atmosphere and warm water to feed on. The latter is becoming more common as the climate crisis deepens, and rapidly escalating storms are also becoming more common in part as a result.

“It has escalated rapidly and that’s never a good thing,” said Bob Henson, a meteorologist at IBM Corp’s Weather Underground. “There will be quite a bit of disruption and of course Covid complicates everything right now.”

With maximum winds that could reach 212 miles (212 kilometers) per hour according to US measurements. This would make Vongfong equivalent to a category 4 hurricane on the five-step Saffir-Simpson scale, the typhoon warning center said. Such strong winds will cause catastrophic damage, break trees, destroy roads, and cause widespread power outages.

Also, 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain could cause flooding and landslides, Henson said. The silver lining is that Manila will be about 100 miles from the center and, given the storm’s rotation, will likely be rid of the worst.

Although storms can occur at any time in the western Pacific, it is unusual that there have been no other named storms in the northern hemisphere so far this year, Henson said.

Meanwhile, on the other side of the world, there is a 70% chance that a low-pressure system will develop and become the first storm of the year in the Atlantic, two weeks before the official start of the hurricane season there. .

(With contributions from agencies)