Tens of thousands of families were driven from their homes by floods and landslides in 322 barangays in the Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions as Tropical Storm “Urduja” (international name: Kai-tak) barreled westward across Samar Island on Saturday.
Tens of thousands of families were driven from their homes by floods and landslides in 322 barangays in the Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions as Tropical Storm “Urduja” (international name: Kai-tak) barreled westward across Samar Island on Saturday.
Five hours after making landfall at 1:30 p.m. on Saturday in the vicinity of San Policarpo, Eastern Samar, Urduja increased speed to 15 kilometers per hour and packed maximum sustained winds of 80 kph while slicing through the town of San Jose de Buan.
At least four people were killed in landslides in Biliran and Ormoc City and four others, including three fishermen in Samar, remained missing, according to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC).
Ferry and air transport services remained suspended in Eastern and Central Visayas, and disaster relief officials issued warnings of more flooding and storm surges as Urduja headed for Central Visayas.
Some 1,000 families from 15 coastal villages in Daanbantayan, Cebu, were asked to vacate their homes under threat from huge waves.
According to the NDRRMC operations center in Camp Aguinaldo, a total of 8,832 families, made up of 38,850 people, were moved to evacuation centers on Friday in Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Western Samar, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Dinagat Islands and Surigao del Norte.
The evacuees were part of the 158,166 people from 35,021 families displaced by floods in the Eastern Visayas and Caraga regions.
A total of 11,101 passengers, as well as 1,322 rolling cargoes, 52 vessels and 33 motorized boats, were stranded in the seaports of Calabarzon, Mimaropa, the Bicol region, Western and Eastern Visayas, and Metro Manila, officials said.
Nearly 30 areas in the country were placed under storm signals by the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) which expected Urduja to bring more rains and pack stronger winds in the next three days.
Pagasa weather specialists said Urduja would leave the Philippine area of responsibility (PAR) as early as Tuesday evening. Unfortunately, Urduja may not be the last tropical cyclone for the month or the year.
