Negros prepares for worst after Kanlaon blast

SAFETY FIRST Residents of Barangay Cabagnaan in La Castellana, Negros Occidental, are being evacuated to safer grounds after the eruption of Monday of Mt. Kanlaon. —La Castella Municipal Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office photo

BACOLOD CITY, NEGROS OCCIDENTAL, Philippines — Better to be ready than sorry.

Although Mt. Kanlaon has calmed down after a short but strong eruption on Monday, local governments on Negros Island were not letting their guards down.

More evacuation centers were being readied for a spillover of people from the towns and cities affected by the volcano’s eruption amid a warning from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) that similar short-lived explosive eruptions may be expected.

READ: Mt. Kanlaon calms down

In a press briefing on Wednesday in Manila, Phivolcs Director Teresito Bacolcol said they could continue to recommend the evacuation of residents within the 6-kilometer radius area around the summit, as new eruptions could result in pyroclastic density currents (PDCs), which are hot, fast traveling flow of ash and debris from the volcano.

Shelters

Negros Occidental Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said the 28 evacuation centers in the province may not be enough to accommodate a surge of evacuees should Mt. Kanlaon erupts again.

“We have to be resilient and mitigate the damage. Let us pray that the unrest at Kanlaon deescalates. It is difficult for those affected to experience Christmas like this,” he added.

A second explosion would mean that instead of just limiting the evacuation to those living within the 6-kilometer radius of the volcano, the evacuated area would now cover a 10-km radius.

Diaz said affected local governments will not have enough evacuation sites if the radius is increased to 10 km.

The Paglaum Sports Complex in Bacolod City is being readied to accommodate up to 5,000 evacuees should the situation at the volcano worsen.

Diaz said they have provisions enough for three weeks if the number of evacuees increases.

Other localities in Negros Occidental not affected by the eruption were also preparing evacuation centers.

Diaz said the province has been providing food and water assistance to the evacuees, alongside with donations coming from private groups, the church and other local governments .

“We are appreciative of their concern and generosity,” he said.

Some P4.4 million in social assistance has also been given to cities and towns in Negros Occidental affected by Monday’s eruption of Mt. Kanlaon, Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) spokesperson Irene Dumlao said in a statement Wednesday.

The bulk of the relief aid went to the cities of Bago and La Carlota as well as the municipalities of La Castellana, Murcia and Pontevedra, the DSWD noted.

As of 11 a.m. Wednesday, 3,367 families or 11,249 residents were in evacuation centers in the cities of Bago and La Carlota and the towns of La Castellana, Pontevedra and Murcia in Negros Occidental, according to Irene Bel Ploteña, head of the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division.

In Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, forced evacuation was ongoing with 152 families or 513 individuals already in the two evacuation centers as of 8 a.m. on Wednesday.

Mt. Kanlaon, which straddles the provinces of Negros Occidental and Oriental, continued to calm down on Wednesday after its explosive eruption last Monday that led to the raising of its alert level from 2 (increasing unrest) to 3 (magmatic unrest).

Still calm

The volcano had 31 volcanic earthquakes and emitted 4,121 tons of sulfur dioxide from 12 a.m. Tuesday to 12 a.m. Wednesday.

The Negros Occidental Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council was set on Thursday to pass a resolution for the declaration of a state of calamity in the province to allow the use of its quick response funds to further aid the evacuees. —with reports from Gillian Villanueva and Kathleen de Villa