Photos: Philippines evacuates thousands after volcano rumbles
More than 6,000 villagers have been forced to leave rural communities within a four-mile radius of the crater of Mayon Volcano in the Philippines’ northeastern province of Albay.
Officials said on Saturday thousands more have yet to be evacuated from the permanent danger zone amid another threat: monsoon rains that could be unleashed by an approaching typhoon.
Authorities warned that Typhoon Guchol, which is approaching the Philippines from the Pacific Ocean but is expected to pass by the archipelago, could still bring heavy rains – unwelcome news for those living near Mayon’s slopes.
“There’s a typhoon and floods could flood Mayon and flood this village. That’s one of our fears,” Villamor Lopez, a house painter, told The Associated Press.
He sat anxiously with his relatives clinging to their bags of clothes, rice in pouches and bottles of drinking water on a pickup truck that transported villagers from the town of Daraga in Albay to an emergency shelter several kilometers away.
People living outside the perimeter have packed their bags and voluntarily left with their children for evacuation centers in Albay, which was placed in a state of disaster on Friday to allow faster disbursement of emergency funds in case of a major eruption.
“The local government has already declared a state of emergency, meaning forced evacuation has already been enforced and alert level three has been raised over the Mayon volcano due to increased activity that could lead to a dangerous eruption,” Al Jazeera’s Barnaby Lo reported. Camalig in Albay province, said.
“This can happen in days, weeks or even months. Nobody knows when it will happen, but thousands of people have left their homes and are in various evacuation centers.”
Authorities raised the alert level for the volcano on Thursday after superheated streams of gas, debris and rocks poured down its upper slope, suggesting activity below the surface that could precede a dangerous eruption within days or weeks.
The 2,462-foot Mayon is one of the most active volcanoes in the country, a major tourist attraction due to its picturesque cone shape. It last erupted violently in 2018, displacing tens of thousands of villagers.
Residents chatted along the road at a chapel, still undecided whether to leave.
A loudspeaker in their laid-back community of low-slung country houses and narrow unpaved alleys warned people to prepare to evacuate at any time if the situation worsened. In the cloudy sky above them, the volcano was hidden by thick rain clouds.
Village leader Dennis Bon, who was preparing to take Lopez and others to the shelter, said he wouldn’t risk waiting until the last minute.
“We have children, disabled people and elderly residents here,” Bon said before driving off.
Albay Governor Edcel Greco Lagman and Welfare Minister Rex Gatchalian said they were prepared if monsoon rains triggered mudslides and rock chips.
“We will still make sure that we don’t have casualties from any compound calamities,” Lagman said.
In the village of Bonga near the volcano, a few men gently bathed in a stream of spring water that flowed along the lush foothills of Mayon and washed two motorcycles near car-sized boulders that had rolled down during previous eruptions years ago.
They shrugged and smiled when asked if the volcano’s new rumble had sparked fear.
The Philippines lies along the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” an area around the ocean’s edge where tectonic plates meet, which is prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
Mount Pinatubo, a long-dormant volcano, blew up north of Manila in 1991 in one of the largest volcanic eruptions of the 20th century, killing hundreds of people.