Ships sail again in Bicol, weather improves after ‘Karen’

This file photo shows passengers waiting to be allowed to take their trips to their destinations. INQUIRER FILE

LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines — As the weather normalized in Bicol with the passing of tropical storm “Karen”, disaster authorities on Sunday allowed 3,732 stranded passengers from the ports of Albay, Masbate, Catanduanes and Camarines Sur to sail, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Bicol said.

The Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) gave the green light after the local weather bureau announced on its 8 a.m. advisory that the weather in the Bicol region was back to normal, according to Bernardo Rafael Alejandro, OCD Region 5 director.

“It is normal practice that we allow passengers to leave and ships to sail following the lifting of all public storm warning signals over the region,” Alejandro said in a phone interview.

He said majority of the passengers that were allowed to sail were bound for Samar and Leyte provinces in the Visayas.

As the weather improved, various provincial disaster risk reduction and management councils and their MDRRMCs began sending home 1,566 families (7,380 persons) that sought refuge in evacuation centers in Albay, Camarines Sur, Camarines Norte, Catanduanes and Sorsogon.

An OCD initial report on Sunday indicated that 12 towns in Bicol were affected by flooding brought by the downpour on Saturday. Landslides hit San Andres and Gigmoto towns in Catanduanes and Irosin town in Sorsogon.

A blackout has reportedly prevailed on the island province of Catanduanes since Saturday, while power outages affected 10 towns in Camarines Sur, three towns in Camarines Norte, two towns in Sorsogon and some areas in Albay.

The Catanduanes PDRRMC is still validating reports of two more typhoon-related deaths and three missing fishermen.

Last Saturday, Jerry Beo, Catanduanes PDRRM officer, said an unidentified man was found drowned along the shoreline of Barangay (village) Pananaogan.

Felicito Tesorero, 77, was also found dead in Barangay Buenavista,  in Bato, after going out to retrieve his carabao. A certain Rene Magtangob, 39, a resident of Barangay Sogod, Tigbao town, went missing after crossing Inagasan Creek Friday night or early Saturday. CBB/rga