The Office of Civil Defense is preparing for Plan Exodus, which involves the evacuation of the entire residents of Canlaon City that could be buried by a Kanlaon Volcano eruption, an OCD official said on Tuesday, Jan. 7.
Office of Civil Defense Central Visayas Director Joel Erestain said they are preparing for “a potential doomsday scenario”.
“It is inevitable that Canlaon will be buried. And we have to be prepared for the worst-case scenario. Good thing the DENR (Department of Environment and Natural Resources) has lands where we could temporarily relocate” Canlaon residents, he said in a post on the OCD Central Visayas Facebook page.
Erestain said that discussions have been ongoing with the Department of Human Settlements and Urban Development since September of last year.
One of the challenges is to look for land where to evacuate residents of Canlaon, Erestain said.
“We have to be prepared, because there’s a possibility that that will be outside of Canlaon City”, he said.
The OCD is also strategizing for the systematic transportation of residents should Alert Level 4 be raised, indicating that a hazardous eruption is imminent.
“What we’re looking at as our way out of Canlaon City is the road going to Vallehermoso, a nearby town,” Erestain said.*