SEVERAL shipping firms suspended sea travels to areas affected by Tropical Depression Urduja, while classes in the elementary level in Ormoc City, Leyte, have been cancelled.
Lite Shipping, Gabisan Shipping, Wessam and fastcraft services have suspended travel to Ormoc City, Hilongos, and Maasin in Leyte.
Lite Shipping, for instance, suspended its 11 a.m. schedule, while the 2:30 p.m. schedule from Cebu to Hilongos was cancelled, an advisory from the Cebu Port Authority stated.
The Philippine Coast Guard-Ormoc has also suspended sea travels from Ormoc to Cebu.
Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez issued the suspension early morning Thursday, December 14, as Urduja was located 120 kilometers east of Guiuan, Eastern Samar, as of 10 a.m., said the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (Pagasa).
Urduja has a maximum sustained winds of 60 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gusts of up to 80 kph.
Four sea vessels and 57 passengers have already been stranded in Ormoc.
Pagasa placed the following areas under Tropical Cyclone Warning Signal Number 1: Catanduanes, Camarines Sur, Albay, Sorsogon, Masbate and Romblon, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Samar, Biliran, Leyte, and Southern Leyte, Northern Cebu including Bantayan Island, Capiz, Aklan and Northern Iloilo. (John Kevin Pilapil of Superbalita Cebu/VLA/SunStar Philippines)
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