Town on Burias Island placed under state of calamity due to ‘Urduja’ rains

San Pascual town (shade in red) on Burias Island (Image from Google Maps)

MASBATE CITY – San Pascual town in Burias Island, Masbate province was placed under state of calamity Saturday as Tropical Storm “Urduja” picked up speed, bringing ample rains and strong winds over the Visayas and Southern Luzon.

The state weather bureau raised Storm Signal No. 2 over Masbate, including Ticao and Burias Islands ,as Urduja made landfall in Eastern Samar, affecting nearby provinces.

Hernando Dorongon, officer-in-charge at the Masbate Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (PDRRMO), said that some residents of Mandaon and Cawayan towns had evacuated. No estimated number of evacuees was available as if this writing.

Meanwhile, as of 5:30 p.m., there was no report of flash floods in all the barangays in the city, Alexis Mabini, Masbate City DRRM Officer II, said in a text message. But six families were evacuated to Nursery Evacuation Center, while all other evacuation centers were ready to accommodate evacuees.

The Department of Education Masbate Division School Governance and Operations-Disaster Risk Reduction Management (SGO-DRRM) distributed 19 sacks of rice and 1,184 canned goods Friday for the 737 student-athletes, coaches, and officials of Ticao and Burias Islands stranded in Masbate City because of the storm.

They were participants of the recently concluded Provincial Meet 2017 held in Masbate City from Dec. 10 to 14. /atm