Sept. 17 (Albay) — More than 4,624 families or 23,557 individuals have been evacuated in Albay as Mayon continued to exhibit signs of high unrest and possible eruption.
In a report by Eagle News correspondent, Jorge Hallare, he said the Albay provincial government had already evacuated 87 percent of the people living inside the six to eight-kilometer danger zone around the restive iconic volcano. A total of 2,898 families or 27,017 residents are living in this area.
Military trucks were used by the Philippine army to transport the evacuees from the danger zone. Many heeded the call to leave their homes, but there were still others who decided to stay.
Feliciana Monda, 61, of barangay Tumpa in Camalig town said they got scared when they felt the continuous tremors in their barangay. Sand and big rocks also started rumbling down the slopes of the mountain. Barangay Tumpa is located in the six-kilometer danger zone.
Other residents refused to leave even with the signs of imminent eruption. They still worried about their belongings, crops and the livestock that they would leave in case they evacuate.
Because of this, Camalig mayor Carlos Baldo personally did the rounds of the barangays in his town to convince the residents to heed the government’s call to evacuate.
Albay governor Joey Salceda, who also heads the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (PDRRMC), said they are now focusing on the evacuation of the towns of Camalig, Guinobatan, Malilipot, Tabaco and Ligao.
Salceda said they decided to place Legazpi City, and Daraga and Sto. Domingo towns under a state of calamaity because they have barangays which are under the danger zone. He said these barangays have already been evacuated. But, there were some residents who still return to their homes to check on their livestock.
Mayon Volcano’s seismic network recorded 45 volcanic earthquakes and 270 rock fall events in the past 24 hours, according to the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) on Wednesday.
(Eagle News Service)