5,000 passengers stranded in Bicol ports

By Ephraim Aguilar
Southern Luzon Bureau
First Posted 13:07:00 01/14/2009
INQUIRER.net

LEGAZPI CITY – At least 4,932 passengers were stranded in four Bicol ports as of 11 a.m. Wednesday due to big waves caused by the northeast monsoon, the Philippine Coast Guard reported.

Also stranded in the ports of Matnog, Tabaco, Virac, and Legazpi City were 316 cars, 112 trucks, 75 buses, and six sea vessels, said Ensign Jeffrey Collado, PCG-Bicol operations assistant.

The Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) detected no tropical depression but only the surge of the northeast monsoon affecting the seaboards of Luzon, Visayas, and Eastern Mindanao.

Corazon Samar, chief meteorologist of PAGASA-Legazpi, said seas in the southern and western seaboards of Southern Luzon, have been described as "rough" to "very rough."

She said the waves in this area have been as high as 3.7 meters to up to six meters.

In Legazpi City, Samar said wind gusts have been measured at 15 meters per second or 30 knots with a velocity of 55 kilometers per hour to 73 kph.

Samar said winds have been stronger and waves bigger in open seas or seas facing directly the Pacific Ocean like the Albay Gulf.

The northeast monsoon will last until February or early March, according to Samar. PAGASA expects a transition to the southwest monsoon after that. The southwest monsoon will affect the other side of the country or the western seaboard.