December 16, 2024 | 12:00am
BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Western Visayas reported that 81 percent of residents within Kanlaon volcano’s six-kilometer permanent danger zone (PDZ) in Negros have been evacuated as of 10 a.m. yesterday.
The evacuees are composed of 4,881 families or 16,268 people who are now staying in 28 evacuation centers. They include 2,825 families or 9,328 people from La Castellana town; 721 families or 2,589 people from La Carlota City and 92 families or 310 people in Bago City.
In Negros Oriental, 1,243 families or 4,041 people are housed in evacuation centers.
According to a memorandum issued by the Regional Task Force Kanlaon, OCD Western Visayas head Raul Fernandez ordered the local governments of La Castellana and the cities of Bago, La Carlota and San Carlos in Negros Occidental as well as Canlaon City in Negros Oriental to conduct a forced evacuation of the remaining families within the PDZ until today.
Fernandez said the order “seeks to ensure the safety and protection of families, given the ongoing volcanic activity at Kanlaon in anticipation of any possible re-eruption or worst-case scenario.”
Alert Level 3, which signifies intensified unrest or magmatic unrest, remained hoisted over Kanlaon Volcano as of yesterday.
The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology logged in the past 24 hours 14 volcanic quakes and reported the emission of 3,620 tons of sulfur dioxide, with plumes reaching as high as 50 meters and drifting west and southwest.
In La Castellana, the police established checkpoints along the main road in the expanded danger zone, where the evacuation of livestock to the town center is ongoing.
Task Force Kanlaon allows essential activities of affected residents within the extended PDZ only from 6 a.m. to 4 p.m.
In the interior of Moises Padilla town, Vice Mayor Ian Villaflor reported mudflow at the Intiguiwan River yesterday, which he believes originated from volcanic ash deposits.
As of Saturday, the Department of Social Welfare and Development, local government units and non-government organizations had distributed P14.792 million worth of humanitarian aid, including family food packs, hygiene kits and sleeping kits, to the affected families in La Castellana, La Carlota and Bago.
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