EDITORIAL - Evacuation ‘nightmare’

It’s “Typhoon Yolanda Jr.,” according to the governor of Eastern Samar. Ben Evardone was referring to Typhoon Ambo, the first tropical cyclone to hit the country this year, which made landfall on Thursday over the town of San Policarpio.

Eastern Samar, which faces the Pacific Ocean, serves as the welcome mat for many of the tropical cyclones that hit the country regularly. In 2013, the province, together with Tacloban City and several other areas of Eastern Visayas, were flattened by Super Typhoon Yolanda, which made landfall on Nov. 7 in the Eastern Samar town of Guiuan.

While Ambo is not as powerful as Yolanda, whose strength was equivalent to a Category 5 hurricane, the typhoon has struck as the country is grappling with the coronavirus disease 2019 pandemic. Across the country, many schools and other facilities normally used as disaster evacuation centers have been converted into isolation and quarantine facilities for COVID cases.

Even before the pandemic, such evacuation centers have always been inadequate and overcrowded. This time, the crowding makes it nearly impossible to observe physical distancing – a critical component in preventing the COVID-19 contagion. Evardone describes the situation in the evacuation centers of Eastern Samar as “a nightmare” as he appeals for help from the national government.

This is just one province, and it’s just the start of the typhoon season. There will be over a dozen other tropical cyclones for the rest of the year, when the country is trying to contain the spread of COVID in the absence of a vaccine or cure.

During emergencies, overcrowding and the inadequacy of sanitation facilities in evacuation centers have led to outbreaks of diseases especially among children and the elderly. Pathogens are easily transmitted and proper hygiene cannot be observed in such facilities. With the onset of the typhoon season, the government must see to it that disaster evacuation centers do not turn into COVID-19 hotspots.