Philippines braces for the typhoon season amidst COVID-19

Abstract

The typhoon season of the Philippines has started amidst a rampaging coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic. The first typhoon, Vongfong, with strong winds of 155 kph (96 mph) and torrential rains pounded the country while on strict lockdown. It placed the health system of the Philippines into a test as a perfect storm developed—a strong typhoon during a devastating pandemic. In a country of 110 million people, Vongfong displaced populations when it entered on 14 May thus complicating the COVID-19 initiatives and adding additional burden to the emergency situation of the country. The Philippines is hit by an average of twenty tropical typhoons every year. These typhoons can be very strong and damaging. It can be recalled that the country is still reeling from the effects of super typhoon Haiyan on 8 November 2013 that killed 6200 people, displacing 4 million and affecting 14 million due to its destructive force.

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http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/

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DOI

http://dx.doi.org/10.1016/j.lanwpc.2020.100003

Repository URI

https://eprints.gla.ac.uk/327504/