when it hit Samar Island in the eastern Philippines at 12:15 p.m., according to the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration. Typhoon Goni’s wind speeds slowed to around 90 kilometres per hour by 2 November, but successive storms over the past month have driven severe floods and landslides across central Vietnam. As Typhoon Vongfong slammed the Philippines on Thursday, tens of thousands of people fled to cramped shelters, raising fears that without proper safety precautions in place, evacuation centres could become a hotbed of coronavirus infection, the UN emergency humanitarian relief agency (OCHA) said on Friday. By Monica Garrett, Brandon Miller and Zamira Rahim, CNN. Provincial and city governments, many of which are already strapped for resources due to the outbreak, are grappling with logistical and space issues, with an estimated 200,000 people needed to be moved from their homes in coastal and mountainous areas because of fears of flooding and landslides. Mark Anthony Nazarrea, a public information officer at Buhi, said the local government turned two more schools into temporary shelters to enable better social distancing. Typhoon Vongfong Makes Landfall in the Philippines. Mayor Benjamin Ver, who also is the town’s sole doctor, said he has secured enough face masks to protect his villagers from the virus in the town hall. “There will be quite a bit of disruption and of course Covid complicates everything right now.”. Updates with storm making a landfall past noon local time. The town in Eastern Samar province is surrounded by mountains and planked by two rivers that often swell in storms. In addition, 10 to 20 inches (25 to 50 centimeters) of rain could trigger floods and mudslides, Henson said. The typhoon came as the Philippines is trying to fight COVID-19 outbreaks largely by locking Filipinos in their homes and prohibiting gatherings that can set off infections. In order to combat its spread, evacuation centers in the central Philippines will only be filled to half capacity, according to Reuters. Typhoon Vongfong, the Northern Hemisphere’s first named storm, is rapidly intensifying east of the Philippines, where it could clip parts of the island nation Thursday and … The Philippines has been locked in disaster response mode for weeks after previous storms caused extensive flooding in parts of Luzon, the country’s main island. A man dies trying to take shelter in a church as Typhoon Vongfong brings wind gusts up to 255 kilometres per hour, destroying homes and crops in the Philippines' east. Due to the Philippines' location in the tropical Pacific the country is hit by around eight to nine storms in an average year.