Hundreds of rolling cargoes and more than 1,000 passengers were stranded in various port terminals in Luzon and Visayas Wednesday due to typhoon Ofel, the Philippine Coast Guard said.
As of noon, a total of 682 rolling cargoes were prevented to travel and 1,388 passengers were left stranded in port terminals in Southern Tagalog, Bicol, and Eastern Visayas regions.
The Coast Guard also reported that 41 vessels and 19 motorbancas were stranded in the same regions while 33 vessels and 25 motorbancas took shelter in some parts of the regions.
“The Coast Guard Operations Center is on 24/7 nationwide monitoring to strictly implement guidelines on the movement of vessels during heavy weather and to ensure safety of lives and properties,” the agency said.
Coast Guard districts, stations, and sub-stations across the country are on standby to respond to emergency situations, in coordination with their respective Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, the Coast Guard added.
Storm Signal No. 1 is raised over Batangas, southern parts of Laguna and Quezon, Burias Islands, Northern Samar, Eastern Samar, Samar, and Biliran.
The weather state bureau said typhoon Ofel is expected to leave the country by Friday.