Philippines volcano sparks evacuation
Source: Agencies |
December 16, 2009, Wednesday
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Print Edition
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AUTHORITIES moved thousands of villagers from harm's way near the Philippines' most active volcano yesterday after it oozed lava and shot plumes of ash, and said they probably would spend a bleak Christmas in an evacuation center.
State volcanologists raised the alert level on the cone-shaped, 2,460-meter Mayon volcano overnight to two steps below a major eruption after ash explosions and dark orange lava fragments glowing in the dark trickled down the mountain slope.
Nearly 50,000 people live in an 8-kilometer radius around the mountain, and authorities began moving thousands of them in case it erupts, Albay provincial Governor Joey Salceda said. More than 20,000 people were evacuated to safety by nightfall yesterday.
"Whatever the volcano does, our target is zero casualty," said Salceda, who canceled a trip to Copenhagen, where he was to attend the United Nations climate conference to discuss his province's experience with typhoons and other natural disasters.
The first of 20 vehicles, including army trucks, were sent to villages to take residents to schools and other temporary housing, provincial emergency management official Jukes Nunez said.
"It's 10 days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centers, and if Mayon's activity won't ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes," Nunez said. "It's difficult and sad, especially for children."
Although the alarm has been sounded, life throbbed normally in many laid-back farming villages near the restless volcano. Throngs of farmers flocked to the town hall in Guinobatan, which lies near the danger zone, for a Christmas party.
Village leader Romeo Opiana said the 249 residents in his farming community of Maninila, near the volcano, readied packs of clothes but no one had left. An army truck was parked nearby, ready to take people away.
"We're ready, but we're not really alarmed," said Opiana, 66, who could not remember how many times he had seen Mayon erupt.
State volcanologists raised the alert level on the cone-shaped, 2,460-meter Mayon volcano overnight to two steps below a major eruption after ash explosions and dark orange lava fragments glowing in the dark trickled down the mountain slope.
Nearly 50,000 people live in an 8-kilometer radius around the mountain, and authorities began moving thousands of them in case it erupts, Albay provincial Governor Joey Salceda said. More than 20,000 people were evacuated to safety by nightfall yesterday.
"Whatever the volcano does, our target is zero casualty," said Salceda, who canceled a trip to Copenhagen, where he was to attend the United Nations climate conference to discuss his province's experience with typhoons and other natural disasters.
The first of 20 vehicles, including army trucks, were sent to villages to take residents to schools and other temporary housing, provincial emergency management official Jukes Nunez said.
"It's 10 days before Christmas. Most likely people will be in evacuation centers, and if Mayon's activity won't ease down we will not allow them to return to their homes," Nunez said. "It's difficult and sad, especially for children."
Although the alarm has been sounded, life throbbed normally in many laid-back farming villages near the restless volcano. Throngs of farmers flocked to the town hall in Guinobatan, which lies near the danger zone, for a Christmas party.
Village leader Romeo Opiana said the 249 residents in his farming community of Maninila, near the volcano, readied packs of clothes but no one had left. An army truck was parked nearby, ready to take people away.
"We're ready, but we're not really alarmed," said Opiana, 66, who could not remember how many times he had seen Mayon erupt.
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