Philippine emergency workers Saturday rescued 30 fishermen whose boat was left drifting in rough seas amid the country's first tropical storm of the year, which also left hundreds of travelers stranded. The storm Mawar blanketed large parts of the main southern island of Luzon and central Visayas province with up to 25 millimeters (an inch) of rain an hour overnight, the state weather bureau said. At least two domestic flights were canceled while more than 500 people were stranded in ports after the coast guard prevented passenger ferries from sailing, disaster relief agencies said. The fishermen's motorboat ran out of petrol off the coast of the country's easternmost island of Catanduanes while negotiating big waves and heavy rains triggered by the storm. “They have been found and the immobilized boat is now being towed to shore,” the office of the civil defense chief Benito Ramos said, adding that all fishermen were accounted for. About 20 storms slam into the Philippines from the Pacific every year, causing heavy casualties and damage. By Saturday afternoon, the weather bureau raised Signal No. 2 over the Batanes and Calayan group of islands, and maintained Signal No. 1 over Northern Aurora, Isabela and Cagayan, including the Babuyan Islands. “Those under Signal No. 2 should expect stormy weather and rough seas,” forecaster Christopher Perez said at a news briefing. “Those under Signal No. 1 should expect heavy rain and gustiness of winds, with moderate to rough seas.” By 4 P.M. Saturday, Mawar had turned more severe, packing maximum sustained winds of 95 kilometers per hour near the center with gusts of up to 120 kph. The storm was moving north-northwest off the coast of northern Luzon, some 210 kilometers northeast of Casiguran, Aurora at a higher speed of 15 kph. It was forecast to be 150 km east of Basco, Batanes, Sunday afternoon, and to change direction later and move north northeast away from the archipelago toward Okinawa, Japan. But it could intensify into a typhoon over sea. It is expected to exit the Philippine area Tuesday.
