MANILA – A tropical storm, bearing center winds of 75 kilometers per hour (kph), roared through the Visayas and Luzon, killing at least five people with 10 others missing, disaster control officials reported on Wednesday.
Locally codenamed “Feria,†weathermen said the storm headed for Metro Manila after it hit land on the capital town of Borongan, Samar province in the Visayas at around 2 p.m. on Tuesday.
Meanwhile, the National Disaster Coordinating Council (NDCC), based in Camp Aguinaldo in suburban Quezon City, Metro Manila, reported that four of those killed were crewmembers of a fishing vessel that was hit by a “baby†tornado in the coastal town of Perez, Quezon province in Southern Luzon.
An NDCC spokesman said the vessel, with a crew of 15, sought refuge in a “barangay†(village) in Perez shortly before midnight on Tuesday upon learning that it was on the path of the storm.
The spokesman added that while there, a baby tornado appeared and completely destroyed the vessel, killing four of its crewmen.
The fifth fatality was a fisherman whose boat sank by strong winds and heavy waves off Cebu province in the Visayas, according to the spokesman.
At the same time, he said the Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) launched rescue operations for the 10 other people, mostly fishermen, who were reported missing in several provinces in the Visayas.
The spokesman also reported that Feria caused the cancellation of 31 flights by local airline companies.
About 10,000 passengers were likewise stranded, mostly in ports in the Bicol Region and the Visayas, as the PCG did not allow ferries and motor bancas to sail in areas threatened by Feria, he said.
The PCG said ferries and cargo ships weighing 1,000 tons were restricted to port or ordered to seek shelter if they are already at sea.
At 4 p.m. on Wednesday, weathermen spotted Feria in the vicinity of Batangas and Cavite provinces in Southern Luzon with its center winds of 75 kph and gustiness of up to 90 kph.
Based on its path projections, weathermen said the storm is to pass 40 kilometers southwest of Metro Manila between 9 p.m. and 11 p.m. on Wednesday.
As a result, signal No. 2 was hoisted over Metro Manila, the two Mindoro provinces, Batangas, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna in Southern Luzon as well as the Samar provinces, Leyte provinces, Iloilo and Cebu in the Visayas and Bataan and Bulacan provinces in Central Luzon.
With the hoisting of signal No. 2, classes in the elementary and high school levels were also suspended in the affected areas.
By Thursday afternoon, Feria is estimated to be 130 kilometers west of Dagupan City in Pangasinan province in Northern Luzon as it moves toward Taiwan, according to weathermen.
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