3 people reported dead due to Tropical Storm Urduja

Three people, including a child, were reported to have died due to the effects of Tropical Storm Urduja, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council said Saturday.

However, the number of reported fatalities is still being "validated" by the Department of the Interior and Local Government, said NDRRMC Executive Director Ricardo Jalad at a press briefing in Quezon City.

Citing initial information, Jalad said that the child reportedly drowned after falling into a ditch in Mahaplag, Leyte. 

Leyte Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office Arvin Monghe reported that the child and his parents were disposing off their garbage when the incident happened.

Another victim was reported to have died in a landslide, also in Leyte. Meanwhile,  one of the two fishermen earlier reported missing was found off the coast of Dinagat Islands, Jalad said.

Apart from initial reports of fatalities, the NDRRMC said it has also received information about missing and injured people due to landslides.

Six are reported missing –three from Eastern Samar, and three due to a landslide in Biliran, Leyte, according to Jalad. 

Also, he said that four were reported injured in Leyte landslides,  two in Biliran and two in Tacloban.

Meanwhile, 11,101 travelers, 1,322 rolling cargoes, 52 vessels and 33 motor bancas have been stranded in ports in Calabarzon, Mimaropa, Bicol, Western and Eastern Visayas, and the National Capital Region. A total of 8,831 families were preemptively evacuated to 141 evacuation centers.

Storm Urduja made landfall in Eastern Samar at around 1:30 p.m.. It also threatens Sorsogon province, PAGASA said.

In its 11 a.m. advisory, PAGASA said that the weather disturbance was forecast to move west at a much faster speed of 15 kilometers per hour, packing maximum sustained winds of 80 kph near the center and gusts of up to 110 kph.

Urduja was last estimated to be 75 km east-northeast of Borongan City, Eastern Samar or 120 km east-southeast of Catarman, Northern Samar.

A total of 29 areas are now under storm signals, PAGASA said. —with Ted Cordero/LBG, GMA News