LEGAZPI CITY, Philippines—Social welfare officials on Friday prepared its stockpile of rice and food items in Albay province should disaster executives order another round of preemptive evacuation amid fears of flooding and volcanic activity.
Volunteers at the Provincial Social Welfare and Development Office targeted 1,000 relief sacks in case of more rains during the remaining typhoon months of the year, said Albay Governor Joey Salceda, also the chairman of the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council.
The relief goods were repackaged with help from police personnel from Camp Simeon Ola, headquarters of the Bicol regional police in the city, he said.
“Relief goods equivalent to five kilos of rice are standard packages for emergency help to evacuees to encourage residents to leave their dwellings and be safe from threats of lahar so they could fully cooperate with the province's zero casualty goals,”
Cedric Daep, head of the Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office, said Friday morning that they recorded a 5.5 millimeter rain volume, causing two rivers to swell.
"Fortunately, the rain slowed down several times, giving a bit of time for the overflowing rivers to subside,” Daep said.
The heavily silted Anoling River that traverses Camalig town overflowed while the Buyuan-Padang River in Legazpi City, which originates from the Bonga Gully, was also heavily silted Thursday morning, he said.
Silted materials in the two rivers consisted of volcanic debris from previous eruptions, gravel, sand, boulders and mud.
Daep said he fielded a monitoring team to verify other river channels along the volcano's slopes that could cause massive lahar floods in the event of another heavy and continuous downpour.
Provincial Engineer Dante Baclao told Apsemo that Thursday morning's continuous rains dumped a one-kilometer stretch of mud, rubbles, gravel and sand along the Nuyday Avenue, the portion of the main road in Camalig town.
The provincial government spent around P1.2 million for its evacuees when Typhoon "Santi," and other hazards expected from Mayon Volcano hit Albay.
There were 14,146 persons or 2,725 families evacuated when the Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration declared Albay under Signal No. 2 when Santi hit Albay.
On Friday morning, a bulletin from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology showed there were no signs of an impending eruption during the past 24-hour observation period.
The Phivolcs recorded seven volcanic earthquakes compared to a total of 110 from October 26 to November 1.
No reading of sulfur dioxide emission on the same morning was made due to thick clouds hovering the summit area. Latest records on November 1 showed 206 tons per day of sulfur dioxide emission.
The status of Mayon Volcano remained at Alert Level 2, which means a state of unrest that could lead to ash explosions or eventually to hazardous magmatic eruption.
Phivolcs strongly recommended that the 6-kilometer radius permanent danger zone around the volcano and the seven-kilometer extended danger zone (EDZ) on the southeast flank of the volcano be off-limits due to threat from sudden explosions and rockfall from the upper slopes.
“Active river channels and those areas perennially identified as lahar-prone in the southeast sector should also be avoided especially during bad weather conditions or when there is heavy and prolonged rainfall,” the bulletin said.
