Hundreds of passengers bound for Leyte and Bohol and the
neighboring islands of Cebu are stranded at the ports in Cebu City after the Philippine Coast Guard grounded all vessels due to tropical depression Marce (CDN PHOTO/JUNJIE MENDOZA).
SIGNAL No. 1 was hoisted over several provinces in Visayas and Mindanao as the low pressure near Surigao del Sur intensified into a tropical depression and was locally named “Marce.”
The storm signal was raised over Southern Leyte, Bohol, Siquijor, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Dinagat Island, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Misamis Oriental and Camiguin.
The state weather bureau Pagasa said Marce packed maximum sustained winds of 45 kilometers per hour near the center and gusts of up to 55 kph. It was moving west northwest at 17 kph.
The tropical depression continued to move west towards Mindanao and made landfall over Surigao provinces yesterday afternoon. It is expected to leave the country by Monday next week.