APD | Sixteen deaths reported as “Ursula” passes through Central Philippines

By APD writer Melo M. Acuña

**MANILA, Dec. 26 (APD) ** – Disaster risk reduction and management council officials said 16 people died as tropical cyclone “Fanphone,” known locally as “Ursula” damaged Eastern and Western Visayas regions.

Sea travel remains risky for small vessels in the western and northern Luzon due to rough seas.

From an earlier report of 13 deaths in Western Visayas, Department of National Defense-based National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said three more deaths were reported in Eastern Visayas.

At 4:00 P.M. today, disaster mitigation officials said “Ursula” was 300 kilometers northwest of another favorite tourist destination, Coron, Palawan and 295 kilometers west-south-west of Subic, Zambales with maximum sustained winds of 120 kilometers per hour and gustiness of up to 150 kilometers per hour. It was moving west north west at a speed of 15 kilometers per hour.

“Ursula” is expected to leave the Philippine Area of Responsibility (PAR) by Saturday morning, December 28, 2019.

As if to add more problems to nearly a hundred persons, while “Ursula” wreaked havoc to residents of a village in Tacloban City in the early Tuesday evening, an unattended candle due to power outage started a fire which burned 10 residential houses made of light materials. No casualties or injuries were reported in the fire.

Aside from the 16 deaths recorded, two were reported injured while six others have remained missing.

(ASIA PACIFIC DAILY)