Four areas still under Signal No. 3 as Ursula barrels toward Mindoro

Four areas were still under Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal No. 3 on Wednesday afternoon as Typhoon Ursula continued on its way to the southern portion of Mindoro provinces, PAGASA said in its 2 p.m. severe weather bulletin.

Tropical Cyclone Wind Signal (TCWS) No. 3 was raised over the following areas:

• Romblon
• southern Oriental Mindoro (Roxas, Mansalay, Bulalacao, Bongabong, Bansud, Pola, Socorro, Pinamalayan, Gloria)
• southern Occidental Mindoro (Calintaan, Rizal, an Jose, Magsaysay, southern portion of Sablayan)
• Calamian Islands (Busuanga, Coron, Culion)

On the other hand, the following areas were placed under TCWS No. 2:

• Batangas
• Marinduque
• the rest of Oriental Mindoro
• the rest of Occidental Mindoro including Lubang Island
• Masbate including Ticao and Burias Islands
• Cuyo Islands
• extreme northern portion of mainland Palawan (Linapacan, El Nido, Taytay, Araceli)
• Capiz
• Aklan
• northern Antique (Caluya, Libertad, Pandan, Sebaste, Culasi, Tibiao, Barbaza, Laua-an, Caluya)

TCWS No. 1 was up over the following:

• Bataan
• Metro Manila
• Rizal
• Cavite
• Laguna
• Camarines Sur
• Camarines Norte
• Albay
• the rest of northern mainland Palawan (Dumaran, San Vicente, Roxas)
• Cagayancillo Islands
• Camarines Norte
• Camarines Sur
• Quezon
• Albay
• Masbate including Burias and Ticao Islands
• Northern Negros Occidental (Hinigaran, La Castellana, Pontevedra, La Carlota, San Enrique, Valladolid, Pulupandan, Bago, Murcia, Bacolod, Talisay, Salvador Benedicto, Silay, Enrique B. Magalona, Victorias, Manapla, Cadiz, Sagay, Escalante, Toboso, Calatrava)
• Iloilo
• Guimaras
• the rest of Antique
   

Ursula is bringing very destructive winds and intense rainfall to Caluya Island, the state weather bureau said.

In the coming hours, the eye wall of Ursula will affect the Mindoro provinces, where it is expected to make its sixth landfall.

As of 1 p.m., the eye of Ursula was spotted 70 kilometers southeast of San Jose, Occidental Mindoro while it packs maximum sustained winds of 140 kilometers per hour (kph) near the center and gustiness of up to 195 kph.

It is moving west at 20 kph.

Rainfall outlook

Occasional to frequent heavy with intermittent intense rains may be expected over Aklan, Antique, Capiz, Romblon, Calamian Islands, Cuyo Islands, and Mindoro provinces.

The Bicol Region, rest of Western Visayas, Calabarzon, Metro Manila, Marinduque, Aurora and the northern portion of mainland Palawan may also experience light to moderate rains with isolated heavy rain showers during thunderstorms.

Rough seas

PAGASA warned of rough sea conditions over the seaboards of areas under TCWS, as well as over the seaboards of Aurora, and the northern and eastern seaboards of Mindanao.

Several coastal areas in southern Masbate, Aklan, Capiz, northern Antique, northeastern Iloilo, Romblon, Marinduque, Mindoro provinces, Calamian Islands and Cuyo Islands may also experience storm surge of one to two meters in height in the next 24 hours.

Ursula is expected to exit the Philippine Area of Responsibility on Saturday morning.

Flights, stranded passengers

Several flights were canceled due to the bad weather caused by Ursula.

More than 23,000 passengers were stranded in ports as of 6 a.m. Wednesday, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office said.

Leyte Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla said on Wednesday afternoon one person died in Abuyog, Leyte.

The Pasig River Ferry operations were suspended since Tuesday due to the bad weather. 

Ursula has caused damage to some infrastructure on Christmas Day. —Dona Magsino/KG, GMA News