700 families evacuated in Albay town

GUINOBATAN, Albay—More than 700 families residing at the foot of Mount Mayon were evacuated by local officials early Saturday morning as Tropical Storm “Urduja” continued to pour rains over Bicol.

Mayor Gemma Ongjoco ordered the pre-emptive evacuation to secure the residents from the threat of floods and cascading lahar from Mayon volcano, which may be triggered by the rains that had been pouring without letup since Thursday.

Igmedio Pavericio, municipal disaster risk reduction officer, said police cars and government service vehicles transported the residents from Maninila and Tandarora villages to evacuation centers.

“We are doing (pre-emtive evacuation) whenever there is a calamity to avoid casualty, particularly around Mayon which is very prone to floodings,” he said.

For Rene Pilaza, 43, resident of Barangay (village) Maninila, following the evacuation order is the best thing to do during bad weather.

“We don’t want to be trapped in our houses. We are afraid to die. It’s OK if we would only have flood but flood from Mayon carries rocks with it,” he said.# Michael B. Jaucian, @InquirerSLB, Inquirer Southern Luzon