Discussion on the Oplan Exodus simulation presided by Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas.* Salta Canlaon photo
The Canlaon City government in Negros Oriental is preparing “Plan Exodus” that would mean the evacuation of the residents of the entire city if Alert Level four 4 is declared at Kanlaon Volcano.
Kanlaon Volcano is currently under Alert Level 3 described by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) as under a high level of volcanic unrest.
If Alert Level 4 it declared it will mean a hazardous eruption is imminent, Phivolcs said.
The Canlaon City government has conducted an orientation on Plan EXODUS (Oplan Exit Operations During Uncertainties Strategy) in preparation for a worst case scenario at Mt. Kanlaon, Mayor Jose Chubasco Cardenas told DIGICAST NEGROS on Tuesday, Dec. 31.
Plan EXODUS aims to establish a systematic approach for the transportation of residents affected by the Mt. Kanlaon volcanic eruption to designated evacuation centers in Vallehermoso, Negros Oriental, a nearby town of Canlaon City, ensuring temporary shelter and the provision of services for families during an explosive eruption.
Cardenas said if Alert Level 4 is declared the residents within 14 kilometers from the volcano would have to be evacuated to neighboring Vallehermoso and even Ayungon.
The entire Canlaon City is only 11.5 kilometers distance from the crater of Mt. Kanlaon, so the entire city of Canlaon will have to be evacuated”, which has 60,000 plus residents, he told DIGICAST NEGROS.
“The heart of the city of Canlaon is 10 to 11 kilometers from the volcano’s crater”, Cardenas said.
A simulation exercise was held Tuesday participated in by a representative of each of the 10 evacuation camps in Canlaon City whose occupants would have to be evacuated, he said.
Dec. 28 data showed that Canlaon City had 5,802 residents in 10 evacuation camps and 2,014 other evacuees outside the camps.
The evacuees in the evacuation camps will be first ones to be moved because they are in contained areas, Cardenas said.
Other residents of the city will also have identified pick up points, Cardenas said.
Mariton Antonia Bornas, chief of the Volcano Monitoring and Eruption Prediction Division of the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), said the volcano has exhibited heightened activity since its last eruption on December 9 prompting a state of caution in the surrounding areas.
“We have entered a period of magmatic unrest following the December eruption, as evidenced by the new magma content in the ash and persistent ash venting,” Bornas said.
“The volcanic activity is unpredictable…We have no handle on timelines. It is the volcano that determines this”, she said.*