Heavy rains and flooding greeted residents of Northern Samar province on Christmas Day on Sunday, Dec. 25, due to a shear line affecting Eastern Visayas (Region 8).

Josh Echano, head of Northern Samar Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO), said four fishermen went missing when they ventured out into the sea amid the bad weather.

In the municipality of San Roque, fishermen Jimmy Adante, 47, and Ricardo Esmerio, 40, went missing around 1 p.m. last Friday while fishing in the vicinity waters of Barangay Lao-angan where they both live.

Meanwhile in the town of Palapag, Roy Tosing, 40, and Jonathan Ponce, 37, also failed to return to their respective homes in Barangay Talolora after sailing despite the inclement weather.

“Even now, there are still big waves that are as high as two to four meters in our coast. Our fishermen must have been pressured to provide food for their families this Christmas so they still ventured out into the sea despite the issuance of a gale warning,” Echano said in a radio interview over dzBB.

Two other maritime incidents were recorded in Northern Samar as rains persisted since Friday, according to Echano.

Two fishing boats collided in Palapag but all six fishermen were rescued by the authorities. Another fisherman was rescued in the municipality of San Isidro when his fishing boat sank after being battered by big waves.

Echano said search and rescue operations have yet to be launched to find the four missing fishermen since the weather has not yet improved.

“We really wanted to launch a search and rescue but our personnel could not do it because the waves are still high. We alerted all DRRM offices in Sorsogon and the entire Samar so we could be notified in case they find our fishermen,” he added.

According to the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical, and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa), the shear line was expected to bring moderate to heavy rains with at times intense rains over Eastern Visayas, Surigao del Norte, and Dinagat Islands.

On Christmas Day, light to moderate rains were experienced in Northern Samar which inundated 14 barangays in Catubig town.

“The flooding reached one to two meters high and it only subsided around 12 midnight. We literally welcomed Chirstmas Day with flood,” Echano said.

The provincial government of Northern Samar has directed the local social welfare office to conduct immediate relief operations for the affected population, including 41 families that were displaced by flooding in Catubig.

“We usually experience these scenarios during Christmas because Northern Samar faces the Pacific Ocean which is a generator of typhoons and other weather systems. Add the climate change so we really need to prepare yearly for these situations,” Echano said.