Preparations underway for the evacuees at the Paglaum Sports Complex*
The Panaad Sports Complex in Bacolod City is being readied to accommodate up to 5,000 evacuees with a further upsurge expected should the situation at Kanlaon Volcano worsen.
Other local government units in Negros Occidental are also preparing evacuation centers for a spillover of evacuees from the affected towns and cities as the province prepares for a worst-case scenario, Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz said Wednesday, Dec. 11.
A Phivolcs advisory following Kanlaon’s eruption on Monday said all local government units should evacuate residents living within 6-kilometer radius from the summit of the volcano and must be prepared for additional evacuation if activity warrants.
Should another eruption occur the areas to be evacuated is expected to be increased to a 10-kilometer radius from the summit of the volcano, Diaz said.
The affected residents residing in the 6- kilometer radius covering Bago City, La Carlota City, La Castellana, San Carlos City and Murcia in Negros Occidental, and Canlaon City in Negros Oriental, total 61,378 individuals, Donato Sermeno III, Office of Civil Defense. Negros Island Region, head said.
An 8-kilometer radius evacuation would affect 93,690 residents and a 10-kilometer radius – 100,675 individuals, he said.
If the radius is increased to 10 kilometers the local government units affected will not have enough evacuation sites, Diaz said.
PANAAD READIED
Areas being readied at the Panaad Sports Complex for the evacuees are its stadium, the organic village covered court, and its grounds.
“We are preparing for three weeks provisions to support the evacuees in the event that more will spill over from evacuation centers in the affected local government units,” he said.
Other local government units in Negros Occidental not affected by the Kanlaon eruption are also preparing evacuation centers, Diaz added.
“We will never be fully ready for a catastrophe that big, we are at the mercy of nature,” he said.
“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 said.
The provincial government has been providing food and water assistance to the evacuees, and vehicles and fuel aid for evacuation work, he said.
The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction Management Council will convene on Thursday to pass a resolution for the declaration of a state of calamity, which the Sangguniang Panalalawigan is expected to approve in a special session hopefully on Friday, Diaz said.
The declaration will allow the provincial government to use its quick response funds to aid the evacuees, Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
Diaz said other LGUs, the Church and the private sector have also been providing assistance to the evacuees and we are appreciative of their concern and generosity.
Several senators have also called to provide assistance.
Any further aid will be welcome, he said.
12,879 EVACUATE
As of 5 p.m. Wednesday there were 3,641 families or 12, 366 residents in evacuation centers in two cities and two towns in Negros Occidental, Irene Bel Ploteña, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division (PDMPD) head, said.
La Castellana had the most number of evacuees at 8,505 followed by La Carlota City with 1,258, Pontevedra – 721 and Bago City – 38, she said.
She said the evacuees in Moses Padilla and Murcia who did not live in the 6-kilometer prohibited area had gone home.
In Canlaon City, Negros Oriental, forced evacuation was ongoing with 152 families or 513 individuals already in the two evacuation centers as of Wednesday morning.
PHIVOLCS
Kanlaon appeared to have calmed down on Wednesday after its explosive eruption on Monday that led to the raising of its alert level to three, Mari Andylene Quintia, Phivolcs resident volcanologist at the Kanlaon Volcano Observatory in La Carlota City, said.
Kanlaon Volcano from 12 a.m. Tuesday to 12 a.m. Wednesday had 31 volcanic earthquakes and emitted 4,121 tons of sulfur dioxide, she said*