Hundreds of passengers stranded in Negros Occidental

Typhoon Ursula stranded hundreds of passengers and cargo in Negros Occidental for two days, disrupting the holiday travel season. Philippine Coast Guard (PCG) Negros Occidental chief, Lt. Commander Jansen Benjamin, said they suspended sea trips in Negros Occidental on Monday afternoon, when a Storm Signal No. 1 was declared over the province.
Based on PCG monitoring, by 6:00 p.m. on Monday, they counted 50 stranded passengers at the Bredco Port in Bacolod City, along with 20 cargo trucks. In addition, in Escalante City, authorities counted at least 148 passengers bound for Tabuelan, Cebu stuck as port, while 80 passengers bound for Toledo, Cebu were stranded at the San Carlos City Port.
By Tuesday morning, Christmas Eve, more passengers arrived at the Bredco Port hoping to cross to Iloilo City but PCG still barred vessels from leaving port as the tropical cyclone warning signal remained active.
Based on a separate report by the Bacolod City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (CDRRMO), they counted at least 180 stranded passengers between December 24 and Christmas Day at the Bredco Port.
Passengers were ultimately sheltered at the Education and Training Center School-4 in the city’s Barangay 16.
CDRRMO also reported the local barangay assisted in providing for the needs of the stranded passengers such as food, water, and hygiene kits.
Meanwhile, the City Health Office set up a first aid station to attend to sick travelers, while the Bacolod City Police Office detailed some of their personnel as security.
By late afternoon on Wednesday, the storm signal was lifted in the province and PCG immediately resumed sea travel./DGB, WDJ