Foreign vessel loses anchor in Naga; zero deaths in province but ‘Glenda’ leaves 20 casualties elsewhere

Children at Delpan evacuation center in Tondo, Manila at the height of the Typhoon Glenda. (INQUIRER PHOTO/JOAN BONDOC)

An Indonesian cargo vessel was blown from its moorings in the City of Naga, south Cebu Tuesday night and a motor banca capsized off Medellin town in the north at the height of typhoon Glenda.

No casualties or major damage was reported.

Cebu was spared the brunt of the storm’s 150-kph to 185-kph winds which left at least 12 people dead and knocked out power in six provinces in Luzon yesterday.

Metro Manila suffered power outages but was largely spared when the typhoon’s fierce wind shifted, officials said.

The typhoon will be out of the Philippines by this afternoon, said the state weather bureau Pag-asa.

Classes in Cebu City public schools were shortened yesterday as children were allowed to go home early to avoid getting caught in more rain.

Twenty five flights were cancelled at the Mactan Cebu International Airport due to bad weather.

All except one plane bound for Clark Air Base were supposed to fly to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport. Air traffic resumed later yesterday afternoon when the all-clear sign was given.

The cargo vessel Narnia, which delivered coal to power plants in the City of Naga, drifted to the shore of barangay Tulay in the adjacent town of Minglanilla and ran aground, said Commander Weniel Azcuña of the Philippine Coast Guard in Central Visayas.

“No one was hurt. All crew members stayed inside the tugboat ‘Fred’ when the incident happened,” he said.

The cargo ship had ten Indonesian crew including the captain Frapto Suminal. Narnia arrived in the port of Naga last July 10 with one metric ton of coal from Indonesia which was unloaded. The vessel was waiting for clearance to sail back for Indonesia when strong winds cut its rope connecting the ship’s anchor.

Chief mate Mohammad Hasan said it was about 10:30 p.m. Tuesday when strong winds rocked the vessel and the ship lost its anchor.

No damage to the ship or corals in the area were noticed, according to the Coast Guard. They will try their best to remove the barge today and wait for the high tide.

In Central Visayas, three other boat incidents were reported but no casualties.

In Bohol province, a motor banca capsized in Inabanga town while the passenger vessel MV Lady Guadalupe sought shelter and ran aground in the town of Ubay.

The Coast Guard did not allow two vessels in Cebu to sail for Manila yesterday because of the storm signal raised there but lifted the suspension for other destinations.

As of 3 p.m yesterday, there were 1,600 affected passengers.

At least 14 commercial planes were evacuated to the Mactan airport to shelter them from the storm.

Planes of Philippine Airlines, Cebu Pacific, Tiger Air and Air Asia were parked in the northeast ramp and military ramp, said Maryann Dimabayao, public information officer of the MCIAA.

No casualties were reported in Cebu, said Baltazar Tribunalo, head of the provincial disaster response office.

“The only disturbances that occurred were cancelled trips by sea and air since Monday,” he said at the Capitol.

Still, residents shouldn’t be complacent.

“For us, the hours after the rain are the most critical,” said Olivia Luces, regional director of the Office of Civil Defense 7 at a press conference.

The soil becomes saturated with rain water and can give way to landslides.

“Families living in vulnerable areas should observe signs of imminent threats of landslides,” she said like falling stones and the sudden appearance of unnatural springs.

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