Miserable Christmas Day: ‘Ursula’ pummels Visayas; 10 dead

Updated 1:06 a.m., Dec. 26, 2019

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Typhoon “Ursula” pummeled the central Philippines on Christmas Day, destroying homes and cutting off power with powerful winds and flooding villages with incessant heavy rains on what is supposed to be Christendom’s happiest day.

At least 10 people were reported killed — one each in Kananga and Abuyog towns in Leyte province and eight, including a 3-year-old boy, in Iloilo and Capiz provinces.

Six other people were reported missing in Iloilo.

More than 16,000 people spent the night in evacuation centers as Ursula (international name: Phanfone) blew in with monster winds that tore roofs off houses, schools, commercial and government buildings, felled trees and electric posts on Tuesday.

Thousands stranded

Thousands more who were trying to get home for Christmas were stranded at ports in the region after the Coast Guard shuttered shipping as the typhoon’s powerful winds began to make sea travel dangerous on Monday night.

Domestic airlines serving routes to the Visayas canceled 40 flights, but Ninoy Aquino International Airport in Manila remained busy as flights to and from parts of the country unaffected by the storm and international flights continued.

The weather bureau Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said Ursula strengthened slightly overnight on Tuesday and was gusting at 195 kilometers per hour, which can knock down small trees and destroy flimsy houses.

As of Wednesday afternoon, Ursula had made seven landfalls in Eastern Visayas, Western Visayas and Mimaropa, Pagasa said.

The typhoon first hit land at Salcedo, Eastern Samar, at 4:45 p.m. on Tuesday then made another landfall in Tacloban City, Leyte, and in Cabucgayan, Biliran, during the night.

It went on to blow toward land, hitting Gigantes Islands in Carles, Iloilo, at 2:30 a.m. on Wednesday, then slamming into Ibajay, Aklan province, six hours later.

The storm then hit land on Semirara Island in Caluya, Antique, at 1 p.m. and finally in Bulalacao, Oriental Mindoro, two hours later.

On way out

As of 4 p.m. on Christmas Day, Ursula’s eye was 15 km south-southwest of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro. It was packing winds up to 140 km per hour and gusts of up to 195 kph.

Pagasa weather specialist Aldczar Aurelio said the typhoon was moving west-northwest at 20 kph. He said the storm was expected to be over the West Philippine Sea by Thursday afternoon, gradually weakening as it neared the boundary line of Philippine territory.

Aurelio said Ursula would further lose strength by Saturday afternoon, turning into a tropical storm as it exited the country.

As of Wednesday afternoon, tropical cyclone wind Signal No. 3 was raised in southern Oriental Mindoro, southern Occidental Mindoro, Calamian Islands and Caluya, while Signal No. 2 was up in Romblon, Batangas, Marinduque, the rest of Oriental Mindoro, the rest of Occidental Mindoro (including Lubang Island), Cuyo Islands, extreme northern Palawan, northern Antique and northwestern Aklan.

Bataan, Cavite, Laguna, the rest of northern Palawan, southern Quezon, Capiz, the rest of Antique and the rest of Aklan were under Signal No. 1.

Though weaker, Ursula tracked the same path as Supertyphoon “Yolanda” (Haiyan), the Philippines’ deadliest cyclone on record, which left more 7,300 people dead or missing in 2013.

Worst-hit provinces

Ursula also battered Boracay Island in Aklan, with residents reporting damaged houses and flooding on Christmas Day.

Among the worst hit were Samar Island, Tacloban, Capiz and Aklan, and northern Iloilo and northern Antique.

In Leyte, strong winds blew three barges to shore at Barangay Punta, Ormoc City, on Tuesday night, the Coast Guard said. One of the barges hit a house, but no one was hurt, it said.

National Grid Corporation of the Philippines said three 138-kiloVolt lines and three 230-kV lines tripped at the height of the typhoon, cutting electricity to the entire island of Samar, Leyte, Biliran and Bohol.

All of Aklan and two towns in northern Antique also lost power after strong winds damaged the 138-kV Panit-an-Nabas line.

Parts of Iloilo and Capiz also experienced power outages.

Flooding reported

Roberto Nuñez, Western Visayas civil defense director, said evacuation and flooding were reported in the northern areas of Panay Island, especially in Capiz and Aklan.

Capiz Gov. Esteban Evan Contreras said among the worst flooded was President Roxas, where floodwaters reached chest-high in the town center.

Provincial disaster officer Judy Grace Pelaez said Ursula, though weaker than Yolanda, brought heavier rains.

She said the province’s first congressional district was first to report flooding, which was unusual because towns in the second district were usually the first to be flooded during typhoons.

“We are preparing for more flooding when the floodwaters from the second district flow into areas in the first district,” Pelaez said.

As Ursula moved west on Christmas Day, some evacuees were allowed to go home in Albay and Sorsogon provinces.

In Libon town, Albay, however, 251 evacuees were not allowed to return to their homes in Barangay Burabod that were damaged by a landslide on Dec. 2.

Ian James Secillano, municipal disaster official, said the evacuees would not be allowed to decamp until the government had provided a relocation site for them.

“As long as there is a threat of landslide, we will not allow them to go back to their houses. the long-term recommendation is to relocate them, probably in the nearby village,” Secillano said.