Storm makes landfall, strands 2000 in Mindanao - Gulf Today

MANILA: Tropical storm Caloy made landfall on Saturday morning in Surigao del Sur province in restive Mindanao but a government agency reported it did not receive initial reports of damage and injuries from the affected areas.

Instead, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said the storm stranded close to 2,000 passengers and caused the cancellation of eight domestic flights.

State weathermen said Caloy hit land at 10am on Saturday in Tandag City, Surigao del Sur as it maintained its strength of maximum centre winds of 45 kilometers per hour (kph) and moving west at 11kph.

Weathermen added they also included under storm signal 1 four provinces in the Visayas, especially Leyte, Bohol, Cebu and Negros Occidental still trying to recover from the devastation inflicted by monster typhoon Haiyan (local codename Yolanda) in early November.

This brought to 15 the total number of areas, from the original 11 Mindanao provinces covered by the storm’s 300-kilometre diameter, which could experience from moderate to heavy rain, according to weathermen.

“Residents living in low-lying and mountainous areas under storm signal 1 are alerted against possible flashfloods and landslides,” weathermen warned in their Saturday morning advisory.

They added Caloy, the third tropical cyclone to enter the Philippines this year, is projected to leave on Tuesday.

Citing a report from the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG), the NDRRMC said close to 2,000 passengers especially in the Visayas were stranded because 33 interisland ferries were banned from sailing.

The NDRRMC also reported that eight domestic flights to and from the affected provinces in Mindanao and the Visayas were cancelled.

Meanwhile, the PCG reported that 21 people including 11 foreigners were rescued when one of the outriggers of a motorised boat broke off the town of Cauayan, Negros Occidental province in the Visayas late on Friday night.

The PCG said it immediately sent one of its rescue vessels to assist the passengers when it received a distress call from the skipper of the motorboat late on Friday night.

The foreigners organised a trip to a diving site in Cebu from Antique province when one of the boat’s outriggers broke as it neared the town of Cauayan in Negros Occidential, according to the PCG.

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