Legazpi City About 2,815 passengers were stranded in the ports of four provinces in Bicol region following the suspension of trips on Friday due to Typhoon Dodong, the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) said.
The Philippine Coast Guard issued Friday a “no sailing” order in the ports of Sorsogon, Camarines Sur, and Albay provinces. These areas are under Public Storm Warning Signal No. 1.
Sea transportation was also suspended in the province of Masbate.
In a phone interview, OCD public information officer Rachelle Miranda said that as of 10 a.m. Friday, there were 1,942 passengers bound for Samar and Leyte provinces who were still stranded in the port of Matnog Municipality in Sorsogon; 859 in Albay province and 14 passengers in Masbate port.
The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa) said as of 1 p.m., Dodong was located at 440 kilometers (km) east northeast of Borongan, Eastern Samar.
Pagasa added that the typhoon, packed with maximum sustained winds of 150 kilometers per hour (kph) and gustiness of up to 185 kph, is forecast to move west northwest at a speed of 17 kph.
[READ: Pagasa urges farm preparations as ‘Dodong’ nears land]
In Albay province, Governor Joey Salceda activated and convened its Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council and came up with a disaster scenario for advance planning on appropriate countermeasure.
The PDRRMC also prepared a list of vulnerable population and areas for quick evacuation plan in case of flood, landslide, lahar, coastal flood and wind surge.
