MANILA, Sept 30, 2008 (AFP) - Nearly 2,000 people were stranded Tuesday at a seaport in the Philippines as tropical storm Higos pummelled the country's east coast with heavy rain, officials said. The coast guard halted ferry services between Samar, the third-largest island in the country, and Luzon, the main island, early Tuesday due to rough seas, leaving some 1,700 people stuck in Luzon, an agency spokesman said. The eye of the storm was over the northeast coast of Samar at 2:00pm local time (0600 GMT) and moving northwest at 30 kilometres (19 miles) an hour, the Japan Meteorological Agency said. Higos had maximum sustained winds of 72 kilometres an hour, it said. Higos was expected to rake across the archipelago's central islands over the next two days before turning north towards the southwest coast of Luzon on Friday, the Philippine weather service said. President Gloria Arroyo, who was visiting Samar and a nearby island on Tuesday, called off most public engagements in Samar due to the storm, the presidential palace said in a written advisory.
Heavy rain was falling on Samar's east coast, though there have been no reports of damage or casualties, the presidential advisory said. "Residents in low-lying areas and near mountain slopes are advised to take all the necessary precautions against possible flashfloods and landslides," the Philippine weather service said in an advisory. Residents of the coasts "are alerted against big waves and storm surges." Storms and typhoons kill hundreds of people every year in the Philippines. In June, the Princess of the Stars ferry, carrying 850 passengers and crew, capsized after hitting a reef off the central island of Sibuyan at the height of Typhoon Fengshen. Only 57 passengers and crew survived. The sinking was the country's worst maritime disaster in 20 years. Criminal charges were recently filed against the owners of the ferry, who have been accused of letting the ship set sail despite a warning from meteorologists that a storm alert had been raised over the area it was heading.
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