The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) said on Saturday about 11,000 passengers were stranded in various seaports nationwide as the slow-moving tropical storm “Urduja” continued to batter Visayas with heavy rains.
In its advisory issued on Saturday morning, the PCG said that at least 11,101 passengers were stranded in ports in Eastern, Southern and Western Visayas, Bicol region and Southern Tagalog.
In addition, at least 1,322 vessels, 52 rolling cargoes and 33 motor bancas cancelled their trips as the state weather bureau warned that sea travel remained risky due to the tropical storm, according to the PCG.
The PCG said that no vessel or any type of seacraft should be allowed to sail except to take shelter, if the situation warrants, when Storm Signal No. 1 or higher is raised.
Urduja was last tracked at 75 kilometers north-northeast of Borongan City, Eastern Samar, according to the 10:00 a.m. bulletin of the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
The tropical storm was last recorded slowly moving west at 15 kilometers per hour and was expected to make landfall in the areas of Northern Samar and Eastern Samar on Saturday afternoon. /jpv
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