page_title: Typhoon Vongfong (2020)
section_title: Preparations
hierarchical_section_title: Typhoon Vongfong (2020) / Preparations
caption_attribution_description: English: Typhoon Vongfong (Ambo) making landfall on San Policarpo, Eastern Samar on May 14, 2020.
context_page_description: Typhoon Vongfong, known in the Philippines as Typhoon Ambo, was a strong tropical cyclone that impacted the Philippines in May 2020. Beginning as a tropical depression on May 10 east of Mindanao, Vongfong was the first storm of the 2020 Pacific typhoon season. It gradually organized as it took a slow northward course, strengthening into a tropical storm on May 12 and curving west thereafter. The next day, Vongfong entered a period of rapid intensification, becoming a typhoon and attaining 10-minute maximum sustained winds of 150 km/h. The storm made landfall at this intensity near San Policarpo, Eastern Samar, at 04:15 UTC on May 14. The system tracked across Visayas and Luzon, making a total of seven landfalls. Persistent land interaction weakened Vongfong, leading to its degeneration into a tropical depression over the Luzon Strait on May 17.
  Preparations for the typhoon were complicated due to the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic. Shelters that opened had to be modified in order to accommodate health guidelines and social distancing. Throughout the Philippines, Vongfong caused around ₱1.57 billion in damage, and killed 5 people.
context_section_description: Heavy rainfall warnings were triggered by the storm's approach for Caraga Region, Bukidnon and Davao del Norte provinces on May 11. The following day, the PAGASA urged residents to begin preparing for the storm, particularly in the Bicol and Eastern Visayas regions and parts of Luzon. Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal 1 was issued parts of Eastern Samar and Northern Samar by the agency on May 13; this was later extended to include parts of the Bicol region. Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal 3 was ultimately issued for parts of Bicol and Eastern Visayas on May 14 as Vongfong neared landfall.
  Search and rescue teams in Davao City were advised by the municipal government to be placed on alert for possible landslides and flooding. The 18 Risk Reduction and Management Offices of Albay were activated on May 12. Across the province, at least 35,000 people evacuated, with a total of 80,000 evacuations expected from susceptible areas; mass evacuations were carried out in 15 towns and 3 cities. Due to the threat of flooding and possible lahar flows from Mayon, 515 people evacuated from Guinobatan in Albay. Rice and other crops were harvested early in the province to prepare for the impending storm. The concurrent COVID-19 pandemic in the Philippines complicated evacuation logistics, reducing space available for evacuees; to comply with social distancing guidelines enforced in some shelters, evacuation shelters were filled to half-capacity, requiring more evacuation centers to house refugees. The capacity of rooms in evacuation shelters was limited to three families. Cubicles intended for COVID-19 quarantines in Bulusan, Sorsogon, were repurposed as evacuation rooms for those seeking shelter from Vongfong. As a result of the use of schools as quarantine facilities for COVID-19, some schools could not be used as evacuation shelters. The governor of Sorsogon proscribed the movement of vehicles in the province en route to Visayas or Mindanao. In Northern Samar, 400,000 people were expected to evacuate to unused COVID-19 isolation facilities; at least 9,700 evacuees were enumerated in Northern Samar by May 14. Emergency shelters in Bicol housed 145,000 evacuees. Local government units were compelled to begin evacuations in Calabarzon. Cargo vessel and fishing operations throughout the Philippines were suspended by the Philippine Coast Guard. A suspension of work was enacted in Camarines Norte and Catanduanes provinces and   Naga, Camarines Sur, on May 14. The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) readied logistics assets and US$23 million in disaster relief aid, while the Department of Social Welfare and Development moved relief goods to areas expected to be affected by Vongfong. One person was killed in Albay after being electrocuted by a wire prior to Vongfong's landfall.
caption: Typhoon Vongfong making landfall on San Policarpo, Eastern Samar on May 14, 2020