The death toll due to Typhoon Bising rose to two while 20 crew members went missing after abandoning their cargo ship that faced rough waters in Surigao del Norte Monday.
According to the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council, one more fatality was recorded in Central Visayas Tuesday.
Th Philippine Coast Guard, on the other hand, said it lost contact with 18 of the crew members who were in a life raft while the whereabouts of two others remained unknown.
“We had contact until this morning while their life raft was drifting. Search and rescue teams are having a hard time due to strong waves. They reported to the (coast guard) station commander that two members of their crew were separated from them,” PCG spokesman Armand Balilo said.
On Monday, the Eastern Visayas Office of Civil Defense identified the first fatality as Alberto Wales, who suffered severe head injury after getting hit by a fallen coconut tree and was declared dead on arrival at the Anahawan District Hospital in Southern Leyte.
In San Jose, Northern Samar, a 40-year-old man identified as Louie Din, was reported missing after he ventured into the sea to get his livestock on a nearby island.
NDRRMC said some 5,351 families or 20,620 individuals remained in evacuation centers.
As of 4 p.m. Tuesday, the center of the eye of the typhoon was located 475 kilometers east of Baler, Aurora.
It was moving north northwestward slowly, packing maximum sustained winds of 175 km/h near the center and gustiness of up to 215 km/h.
Tropical cyclone wind signal no. 2 was in effect over the eastern portion of Cagayan, the eastern portion of Isabela, the northern portion of Aurora and Catanduanes.
Tropical cyclone wind signal no. 1 remained hoisted over Batanes, the rest of Cagayan, including Babuyan Islands, the rest of Isabela, Quirino, Apayao, Kalinga, the eastern portion of Mountain Province, the eastern portion of Ifugao, the northeastern portion of Nueva Vizcaya, the central portion of Aurora, the eastern portion of Quezon, including Polillo Islands, Camarines Norte and Camarines Sur.