Eastern Samar governor likens Ambo to 'Typhoon Yolanda Jr'

A facility meant for suspected COVID-19 cases is among those destroyed by Severe Tropical Storm Ambo when it lashed Eastern Visayas on Thursday, May 14, 2020. Photo courtesy of Gov. Ben Evardone

Typhoon Ambo has left so much infrastructure damage in Eastern Samar that Governor Ben Evardone described it as "Typhoon Yolanda Jr," referring to the infamous November 2013 super typhoon that left thousands dead in the Visayas.

"I just came from four hardest-hit towns of Dolores, Oras, San Policarpo and Arteche and I can say that devastation in my province is so enormous and unimaginable that I can safely say that Ambo was Typhoon Yolanda Jr in terms of damage to infrastructure," Evardone said in a statement.

San Policarpo is where Ambo made the first of its six landfalls.

Evardone lamented that among the infrastructures damaged by the typhoon were evacuation centers and classrooms converted as isolation facilities for suspected COVID-19 cases.

The typhoon also uprooted the entire roof of a local church, Evardone said.

"This typhoon is just like 'Typhoon Yolanda Jr' in terms of infrasture damage," he said, as he feared that the damage to agriculture could be worse than during Yolanda.

"Aside from the massive damage to traditional crops like coconut, corn fruits and root crops, some of the newly-harvest rice were damaged. Storage facilities were also damaged. This is a double whammy for us because we are also facing this COVID crisis," he said.

As of Friday afternoon, the eye of Typhoon Ambo was at the vicinity of Catanauan, Quezon. Nine areas are under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 3. --KBK, GMA News