STRANDED Stranded travelers wait outside the gate of North Port terminal in Manila on Tuesday after shipping was shut down due to Typhoon “Ursula.” —GRIG C.MONTEGRANDE
Thousands of people in Eastern Visayas had their Christmas plans ruined on Tuesday after they were ordered evacuated to shelters as Typhoon “Ursula” (international name: Phanfone) blew toward land.
Officials on Christmas Eve said residents should leave coastal areas, and thousands more were stranded at ports with ferry services shut down as the region hunkered down for stormy weather.
The weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) advised people in the path of the typhoon to tone down their holiday activities and stay indoors for their own safety.
No stopping Christmas
But some people just won’t allow a typhoon to stop them from celebrating Christmas.
Twenty families taken to an evacuation center in Guiuan, Eastern Samar, brought in food for “noche buena,” the traditional midnight repast shared as Christmas Eve ends and Christmas Day begins.
Eric Aglibot, a barangay councilor who was among the evacuees, said the families brought spaghetti, fried fish and fried chicken for the midnight feast.
They also brought flashlights to brighten their celebration, Aglibot said.
Guiuan and the rest of Eastern Samar had been without electricity since 1 p.m. on Tuesday when strong winds from the approaching storm toppled some power lines.
“We are so used to typhoons here in Guiuan and this [typhoon] will not stop us [from celebrating] Christmas,” said Danilo Lagos, a government employee.
Guiuan was the first landfall of Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (international name: Haiyan), which swept across Eastern Visayas in 2013, leaving more than 7,300 people dead or missing.
Christmas Eve landfall
Ursula, the 21st typhoon to hit the Philippines this year, hit land in Salcedo, Eastern Samar, at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday Pagasa said.
Its eyewall brought violent winds to the southern part of Eastern Samar, and was likely to affect Biliran, the southern part of Samar and the northern part of Leyte in the evening, the weather bureau said.
The typhoon was expected to cause “damaging” gale to storm-force winds in several areas, as well as storm surges up to 2 meters in coastal areas in Eastern Visayas, Pagasa said.
Warnings up
As of 5 p.m. on Tuesday, tropical cyclone wind signal No. 3 was raised in the provinces of Samar, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Biliran, Leyte extreme northern Cebu, including Camotes Island, and Masbate, including Ticao Island.
Pagasa senior weather specialist Chris Perez said these areas may be battered by destructive winds that could damage houses made of light materials.
Signal No. 2 was up in provinces across central Philippines: the southern part of Quezon, Marinduque, Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro (including Lubang Island), Romblon, Albay, Sorsogon, Burias, Calamian and Cuyo islands, central part of northern Cebu northeastern Iloilo, northern Antique, Capiz, Aklan, southern Leyte, northern Negros Occidental and Dinagat Islands.
Under signal No. 1 were Metro Manila, Bulacan, Bataan, Rizal, Cavite, rest of Quezon, Laguna, Batangas, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes, northern Palawan, rest of Cebu, Bohol, Siquijor, rest of Antique, rest of Iloilo, Guimaras, Negros Oriental, rest of Negros Occidental and Surigao del Norte, including Siargao and Bucas Grande Islands.
Many of these areas still had fair weather as of Tuesday afternoon, but Perez said residents should expect the weather to deteriorate as Ursula churned closer to land.
As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, the typhoon was packing maximum sustained winds of up to 120 km per hour and gusts of up to 150 kph.
Moving west at 25 kph, Ursula was expected to cross the Visayas on Christmas morning, bringing rain and gusts to provinces in the region, as well as in southern Luzon, Perez said.
Ursula was on track to leave the Philippine landmass by Wednesday afternoon and exit Philippine territory by Saturday morning.
Pagasa warned against sea travel off the country’s eastern seaboard, as well as in inland waters in southern Luzon and the Visayas and western seaboards of southern Luzon until Wednesday afternoon.
The warning prompted the Coast Guard to order all ships on the storm’s projected path to stay at port, while local officials there told residents of the coasts as well as flood- and landslide-prone areas to move to safety.
Forced evacuation
“Some families are reluctant to evacuate because they want to celebrate Christmas at home, but local officials will force them out if they refuse to heed our warnings,” regional civil defense official Reyden Cabrigas told Agence France-Presse (AFP).
Cabrigas, speaking by phone from Tacloban City, said evacuations were under way there as well as nearby Samar, but added he did not immediately have a total count. “We are aiming for zero casualties,” he said.
More than 21,000 people trying to get home for Christmas were stranded at ports as shipping shut down, the Coast Guard reported.
A report from the regional civil defense said 13,395 travelers were stranded at ports in Bicol as of 12 noon Tuesday.
In Sorsogon, 11,038 travelers were stranded; in Albay, 2,099; in Masbate, 143; and in Camarines Sur, 115.
In Calabarzon, Alex Masiglat, spokesperson for the regional disaster council, said close to “a thousand” travelers were stranded in Batangas, and “hundreds” at ports in Quezon.
At least 1,000 travelers had been stranded at the Lucena port in Quezon since the Coast Guard shut down shipping on Monday night.
Flights canceled
Local airlines also suspended dozens of domestic flights.
Major carriers Cebu Pacific Air and Philippine Airlines canceled seven flights from Manila, 10 flights to Cebu and six flights to Clark, while AirAsia rescheduled four flights from Manila.
The three carriers canceled 52 flights out of the Manila, Cebu and Clark airports for Christmas Day and rescheduled 14.
The Manila International Airport Authority called on passengers on canceled flights not to come to the airport anymore to avoid getting stranded.
Ang Probinsyano Rep. Ronnie Ong called on the Philippine Ports Authority and the Maritime Industry Authority to give travelers stranded at the ports food for noche buena so they would feel the spirit of the season despite their “unfortunate circumstances.”