Team DailyPedia
In the Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council (PDRRMC) meeting at 9 a.m. this morning, held in the Office of Civil Defense inside the Camp Simeon Ola in Albay, Governor Joey Sarte Salceda declared critical towns and cities threatened by the impending eruption of Mayon Volcano under states of calamity. He also ordered immediate forced evacuation and no-human-activity within the volcano’s six kilometers permanent danger zone (PDZ), and compulsory/assisted evacuation within the six to eight expanded danger zone (EDZ).
The meeting was attended by the mayors of towns and cities of Albay as well as by different segments of the local and the national government, including those of the Armed Forces, the Red Cross, and the media.
Resident PHIVOLCS volcanologist Ed Laguerta reported that what was visible to the naked eye and was mistaken for lava flows were actually rock falls coming from the fragmented lava load being pushed by magma in the crater. These were followed by low rumblings and tremors. The lava flow, should it start, is expected to flow down the southeast sector of the barangays of Mabinit, Buyuan and Bonga, barangays between the city of Legazpi and the town of Sto. Domingo. He confirmed that eminent eruption is possible within the next few weeks or earlier.
Cedric Daep, the head of Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) presented the evacuation and contingency plans which Gov Salceda ordered to be immediately implemented. The evacuation is expected to be completed within the next 24 hours; a curfew within the danger zones would immediately follow.
Evacuation centers, including some school rooms, are to be fitted with sufficient facilities—such as water, power and sanitation—that would approximate 70% of the evacuees’ normal living conditions. Dep Ed Region V Director Abcede committed to make available 1,000 classrooms in 55 schools that would be fully devoted to evacuees. The National Food Authority (NFA) committed to make available rice that would assure each family to have five kilos of rice per day in the evacuation centers.
Provincial Tourism and Cultural Affairs Office (PTCAO) shall issue an advisory for the safety of tourists and visitors during the state of calamity.
