By Dominique Gabriel G. Bañaga
More than a dozen passengers, along with some rolling cargoes were stranded at the port in Negros Occidental’s San Carlos City yesterday morning after several Cebu-bound ferries suspended their trips due to the bad weather caused by a low pressure area (LPA) and a shear line.
Commander Jansen Benjamin, operations chief of Coast Guard District Western Visayas, said the scheduled trips to Cebu province’s Toledo City of M/V FastCat M10 and M/V Lite Ferry 2 were decided not to push through due to rough sea conditions.
The suspension stranded a total of 24 Cebu-bound passengers and 12 rolling cargoes.
Based on the bulletin issued by the state weather bureau, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA), as of 11:00 a.m. yesterday, the LPA was spotted 355 kilometers east southeast of Surigao City.
There was no gale warning issued, but PAGASA’s forecast warned of moderate to rough sea conditions with wave heights of up to 2.8 meters.
Meanwhile, also in San Carlos City, a portion of the Ecotranslink Highway, which connects the city to Don Salvador Benedicto town, was forced to close to traffic following a rockslide in the area.
In a post made by the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, they are advising motorists traversing the Zone 12 portion of the highway to exercise caution due to the high risk of landslides.
The authorities immediately conducted a road clearing operation to remove the debris blocking the highway./DGB, WDJ