"Disaster officials and health authorities already have their hands full fighting the virus."
The isolation of millions during the coronavirus pandemic has been happening for two months.
Today, evacuation of hundreds of thousands in the Central Philippines, where powerful typhoon Ambo (international name Vongfong) is on a rampage at the start of the annual rainy season.
This is not a good time for the typhoon to hit the country, which averages 20 every year—not that any other month would have been good, since typhoons have no capacity for empathy and compassion.
And they are merciless on the domestic economy, with their might causing a three percent cut on the average.
The rush of people away from dangerous zones and the lack of centers for the evacuation of thousands under threat are hobbling challenges authorities face.
We look at Ambo's surge, its threat to have hundreds of thousands on its path evacuated to safer grounds to save life and limb, forgetting—in the nervous rush to save a glimpse of the future – the protocols like – not limited to these – practicing social distancing, wearing face masks and disinfecting things touched by others previously.
Beyond doubt, the typhoon's whip initiates a complicated and dangerous evacuation for thousands on its path, with many drenched areas—from thus far maximum sustained winds of 95 kph near the center and gustiness of up to 115 kph—already down literally in pitch darkness due to power outage.
In the national capital region alone, where nearly 13 million of the country's 108 million hacks out a living, Ambo's pre-fury stage is making frames of a frightening weekend scene, with low-lying areas and shanty towns near creeks at high risk of being flooded and washed away.
In Ambo's projected path, at least 200,000 in coastal communities and many in flimsy homes are getting a nerve-wracking spin.
These pose a grave scenario for disaster officials and health authorities who already have their hands full fighting in all parts of the country the unseen virus that has infected nearly 12,000 and killed almost 800, a pandemic worse than the Second World War.
The threat of landslides and flooding in Central Philippines—Eastern Visayas and Bicol—is always present, with the memory of a devastating Typhoon Yolanda nearly seven years earlier still sending roaring ripples, if not waves, of fright, when thousands of families lost loved ones and damaged infrastructure which awed even the best engineering minds.
We take great comfort in the assurance by the Philippine National Police they would coordinate with local government units and other law enforcement agencies for a unified movement to protect the public against Ambo and the deadly coronavirus.
We keep the faith.
