Nearly 1,000 stranded in Mimaropa ports due to typhoon

SAN PEDRO, Laguna, Philippines—Nearly 1,000 passengers from various ports in the Mimaropa (Mindoro, Marinduque, Romlon, Palawan) region were stranded after ferry trips were canceled due to Typhoon “Pablo,” which slammed its way into the country via northeastern Mindanao early Tuesday.

A report on Wednesday from the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said 660 passengers were stranded at Dangay port in Roxas; 124 in Calapan City, both in Oriental Mindoro; 60 at the Abra de Ilog port in Occidental Mindoro; 60 in two ports in Romblon; and 143 in the Palawan ports since late Tuesday afternoon.

“The numbers remain the same because we still have storm signals here,” said RDRRMC director Eugene Cabrera in a phone interview on Wednesday.

He said storm signal 3 remains in Northern Palawan while public storm signal 1 was raised in Romblon province.

Cabrera said strong, albeit intermittent, rains were observed in the town of Taytay and in the island municipalities of Busuanga, Culion and Coron, as of Wednesday morning.

He said that as of Tuesday evening, 340 had already been evacuated from the coastal villages in Culion and Coron towns for fear of a storm surge.

“Our field officers said they are now about to evacuate residents from Busuanga,” Cabrera said.