Mayon ash blankets 3 Albay towns

LEGAZPI CITY , Philippines  - Government volcanologists yesterday said ashfall blanketed at least three towns in Albay, raising new health fears for thousands already bracing for an eruption that could come at any time.

Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Philvolcs) director Renato Solidum said Mayon volcano sprayed ash over the towns of Guinobatan, Camalig and Polangui located at the volcano’s south sector.

Mayon rumbled and emitted clouds of choking soot that left a layer of ash on villages in the three towns, Solidum and witnesses said.

The fine particles are being produced as fragments of rock collapse in the volcano’s lava flows, Solidum explained.

“It’s not very thick, just a few millimeters of ash, but that is the most dangerous part because it is very fine ash,” Solidum said in a television interview.

Health officials warned the tiny particles could cause respiratory problems or skin diseases, and could affect the thousands of people crammed into evacuation centers beyond the eight-kilometer danger zone.

Witnesses reported ashfall a considerable distance from the restive volcano and civil defense officials said it was hard to predict where the ash would settle because of shifting winds.

Fine white powder drifted across Guinobatan town, some 14 kilometers from Mayon.

Vehicles driving along the village’s roads kicked up clouds of volcanic dust as residents, some wearing face masks, complained of stinging eyes and said they could feel the particles irritating their skin.

Department of Health (DOH) chief epidemiologist Eric Tayag said residents should stay indoors and keep windows closed if necessary to avoid exposure to the ash.

He said anyone who had to venture outside should wear long-sleeved clothes and cover their nose and mouth with a damp cloth.

Intense level of activity

Solidum said the volcano continued to show intense level of activity during the past 24 hours.

“Seismic activity remained elevated in number and size as the seismic network detected a total of 1,266 volcanic earthquakes,” he said.

Solidum said many of these volcanic earthquakes were recorded at maximum deflection and have continuously occurred since 12:21 p.m. of Dec. 20.

He added that harmonic tremors were continuously being recorded and the sulfur dioxide emission rate remained very high and was measured at an average of 6,529 tons per day on Monday.

However, Solidum said that visual observation was hampered by thick clouds covering the upper and middle slopes of the volcano since Monday morning.

But he said that an intensified crater glow was observed during a short cloud break Monday night.

“Red hot lava also continuously flowed down along the Bonga-Buyuan, Miisi and Lidong gullies. The lava front has reached about five kilometers downslope from the summit along the Bonga-Buyuan gully,” Solidum said.

Mayon, which has been spewing lava and ash for a week, remains at alert level four, meaning it could erupt any day.

The elevated risk has prompted authorities to evacuate more than 9,440 families - at least 45,336 people - from the danger zone.

Albay Gov. Joey Salceda said there were only about 500 people still in the zone.

“We are doing all sorts of contortions just to bring them in,” he said, adding he was reluctant to resort to force.

Salceda said, “Definitely (evacuated villagers) will spend Christmas and even New Year’s Day in evacuation centers.”

Government medical teams have been sent to the centers to guard against outbreaks of infectious diseases or illnesses spawned by the ashfall, Salceda said.

He expressed concern that bored evacuees may try to sneak out and return home so they can celebrate Christmas in familiar surroundings.

To avert this, various agencies are carrying out activities in the evacuation centers such as concerts, painting lessons and children’s parties, the governor said.

House-to-house visits

Meanwhile, the joint Army and police personnel of Task Force Mayon would start house-to-house visits within the six- to eight-kilometer danger zone where residents were earlier evacuated in a bid to attain the government’s goal of zero casualty.

Captain Razaleigh Bansawan, spokesman of Task Force Mayon, said their patrol teams were left with no other option but to conduct a sort of census, after some 2,500 villagers, mostly men, chose to remain in their houses despite the mass exodus ordered by the Albay government last Sunday.

Bansawan said only a house-to-house inspection could force defiant residents to leave the danger zones.

The Philippine National Red Cross (PNRC) and the United Nations (UN) are now gearing for massive disaster response operations in the face of Mayon volcano’s imminent eruption.

PNRC secretary-general Gwendolyn Pang reported that that it is now coordinating with local governments for relief distribution and other intervention.

It is also offering free telephone services at the Albay Central School and is closely working with the Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council (PDCC) to ensure the efficiency of the disaster response operation. – With Cet Dematera, AP, Mayen Jaymalin and Pia Lee-Brago