Photos courtesy of Councilor of Jaypee Lao

Photos courtesy of Councilor of Jaypee Lao

Photos courtesy of Councilor of Jaypee Lao

Photos courtesy of Councilor of Jaypee Lao

Photos courtesy of Councilor of Jaypee Lao

MANILA (2nd UPDATE) — Heavy rains spawned floods and landslides in parts of Visayas on Christmas Eve, local authorities said.

Some homes in Santa Fe, Bantayan Island in Northern Cebu were flooded after big waves hit the area on Friday night.

While the area was spared by rains, winds were strong, according to Councilor Jaypee Lao.

"It was high tide along with very strong clashes of the waves," he said.

Rescue teams fetched several families from their flooded homes and brought them to evacuation centers, where they spent the night.

In Samboan, Cebu, a seawall in Barangay San Sebastian was damaged by strong waves.

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Parts of Jipapad town in Eastern Samar also experienced flooding due to rains since Friday.

Videos contributed by Kim Howelle Queypo showed the town's flooded plaza, where some residents waded through the waist-deep water.

Due to the continuous rain, some residents were evacuated and took shelter at the municipal building.

Mayor Benjamin Evardone Ver said local authorities on Saturday were still conducting rescue operations and verifying how many residents were affected.

Rains also unleashed landslides and floods in parts of Arteche, Eastern Samar, making some roads impassable.

The Department of Public Works and Highways in Eastern Visayas advised motorists that the Artche-Jipapad-Las Navas-Rawis road was not passable to all types of vehicles due to flooding along the national highway in Brgy. Bigo.

Floods crept inside homes in several villages in Taft, Eastern Samar. These include upstream barangays like Beto, Bongdo, Danao, Del Remedios, Gayam and Pangabotan, as well as villages beside the highway like Brgy. Binaloan, Malinao, San Pablo and Mabuhay.

Llorente town in Eastern Samar was also inundated. In Barangay Naubay, houses and some classrooms were drenched with floodwaters.

Villages in General McArthur, especially in Barangays 1, 3 and Binalay, were flooded, making vehicles struggle against floodwaters.

The local disaster office said it was evacuating residents.

State weather bureau PAGASA said the shear line, an area where cold and warm air meet, would dump heavy to intense with at times torrential rains over Eastern Samar, and moderate to heavy rains over the rest of Eastern Visayas on Saturday.

• PAGASA: Expect cloudy, rainy Christmas Eve in parts of Philippines

Photos courtesy of Cebu Port Authority

Photos courtesy of Cebu Port Authority

Photos courtesy of Cebu Port Authority

Five coastguard stations in Central Visayas have declared an indefinite suspension of all sea trips on Saturday due to bad weather.

The stations in Negros Oriental, Southern Cebu, Northern Cebu, Central Cebu, and Eastern Bohol said vessels were required to take shelter in the meantime and bar passengers from boarding. Trips will resume once the weather and sea conditions improve, they said.

Hundreds of passengers who had hoped to travel last minute for Christmas are now stranded in different ports in the region.

— With reports from Annie Perez, Jenette Ruedas, Sharon Evite, RC Dalaguit De Vela, and Ranulfo Docdocan