BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL G. BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – More than a dozen passengers, along with several rolling cargoes, got stranded at the San Carlos City port in Negros Occidental yesterday morning.
Several Cebu-bound ferries suspended their trips due to inclement weather caused by a combination of low pressure area (LPA) and shearline.
Commander Jansen Benjamin, Coast Guard District Western Visayas chief of operations, said the captains of M/V FastCat M10 and M/V Lite Ferry 2 decided not to push through with their scheduled trips to Toledo City in Cebu due to rough sea conditions.
The suspension stranded a total of 24 Cebu-bound passengers and 12 rolling cargoes.
Based on the weather bulletin issued by the Philippine Atmospheric Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), as of 11 a.m. yesterday the LPA was last spotted 355 kilometers east southeast of Surigao City, Surigao Del Norte.
There was no gale warning issued over the western section of the Visayas, although PAGASA’s forecast for shipping showed moderate to rough sea conditions with wave heights of up to 2.8 meters.
Meanwhile, also in San Carlos City, a portion of the eco-translink highway which connects the city to the town of Don Salvador Benedicto was forced to close one lane to traffic following a rockslide in the area.
In a social media post, the city’s Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office advised motorists traversing the Zone 12 upper portion of the highway to exercise caution due to the high risk of a landslide in the area.
The authorities immediately conducted a road clearing operation in the area to remove debris blocking the highway./PN
