About 500 still refuse evacuation – Salceda

LEGAZPI CITY: The country’s most active volcano belched out choking ash on Tuesday as authorities, fearing a major eruption, struggled to deal with thousands of evacuees crammed into shelters.

The ash spread over a wide terrain by Mount Mayon in Albay province, about 330 kilometers southeast of Manila. The ash raised new health fears for locals already braced for an eruption that scientists say could come any day.

More than 45,000 evacuees taking refuge in overcrowded buildings were set to endure Christmas away from home, officials said as authorities vied to bring in relief supplies and prevent outbreaks of disease.

Vehicles driving along roads around Guinobatan town, some 14 kilometers from Mayon, kicked up clouds of volcanic dust as residents complained of stinging eyes and irritated skin.

“It’s not very thick, just a few millimeters of ash, but that is the most dangerous part because it is very fine ash,” chief volcanologist Renato Solidum said during a television interview.

Health officials warned the tiny particles could cause respiratory problems or skin diseases, and could affect the evacuees sheltering beyond the 8-kilometer danger zone.

Mayon, which has been spewing lava and ash for a week, remains at alert Level 4 out of 5-point scale, meaning it could violently erupt any day.

The elevated risk has prompted authorities to evacuate more than 9,440 families—at least 45,336 people—from the danger zone.

Holdouts down to 500

Gov. Joey Salceda of Albay said that there were only about 500 people still in the zone, where some farmers have been reluctant to abandon their holdings in the fertile pastures around Mayon.

“We are doing all sorts of contortions just to bring them in,” Salceda told Agence France-Presse, while saying that he was reluctant to resort to force.

He added that “definitely [evacuated villagers] will spend Christmas and even New Year’s Day in evacuation centers.”

In some school buildings being used as shelters, whole families were packed into rooms where they had to sleep and eat on the floor or on top of school desks.

Authorities were rushing to install additional toilets and bring in more clean water to avert disease, said Jukes Nuñez, the provincial disaster control operations officer.

“We are running out of resources, especially rice supplies, for distribution to the evacuees and with the cold of the season, we need more blankets and sleeping mats,” he also told the news agency.

Government doctors have been sent to the centers to check on the most vulnerable evacuees, including the elderly and children.

Salceda said that he feared that bored evacuees might try to sneak out and return home so they can celebrate Christmas in familiar surroundings.

To avert this, activities are being laid on in the evacuation centers such as concerts, painting lessons and children’s parties, he added.

Witnesses reported ashfall several kilometers from the restive volcano and civil defense officials said that it was hard to predict where the ash would settle because of shifting winds.

Deadly history

Volcanic ash proved deadly in the past. During Mayon’s last eruption in 2006, the volcano oozed lava and vented steam and ash for two months.

No one was killed by the eruption itself, but three months later, a powerful typhoon dislodged tons of volcanic ash and debris that had collected on Mayon’s slopes. The fast-moving avalanche of mud and boulders crushed entire villages, leaving more than 1,000 people dead.
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The 2,460-meter volcano, which is famed for its near-perfect cone, has erupted 48 times in recorded history. In 1814, more than 1,200 people were killed as lava buried the town of Cagsawa.
AFP