At least 167 residents in Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental preemptively fled their homes Tuesday as heavy rains triggered lahar flows along the slopes of Kanlaon Volcano, an Office of Civil Defense official said Wednesday, Sept. 16.
The OCD has requested the Negros Occidental provincial government to assist with a drone survey of areas around the volcano to check for artificial damming caused by accumulated volcanic debris, OCD Negros Island Region Director Donato Sermeno III said.
Sermeno warned that a collapse of possible temporary debris blockages under mounting water pressure, could unleash deadly flash floods.
He compared the threat to disasters in Nepal, where landslides often block riverways to form fragile, temporary dams. When those natural dams eventually burst, they unleash catastrophic flash floods that can wipe out downstream communities with little to no warning.
The drone survey is necessary so preemptive measures can be put in place, Sermeno said.
The immediate threat of flooding forced 24 families, or 71 individuals, to preemptively evacuate in Barangays Panubigan and Masulog in Canlaon City.
In neighboring La Castellana, heavy rain drove volcanic debris down Ibid Creek in Sitio Tamburong, Barangay Biak-na-Bato. This prompted 27 families, comprising 96 individuals, to evacuate , Mayor Añejo Nicor said.
While most residents began returning to their homes on Wednesday, Sermeno urged communities in lahar-prone areas to remain vigilant and strictly follow preemptive evacuation orders to ensure their safety.*
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