Over 900 farm animals evacuated due to Mayon unrest

MANILA, Philippines — Aside from people, livestock are also affected by Mayon Volcano’s eruption in Albay and other parts of the Bicol Region.

As of yesterday, 908 animals have been pre-emptively evacuated from within the extended permanent danger zone (PDZ) and other affected communities.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) said affected areas include 18 cities and municipalities that have been placed under state of calamity.

Although there are no specifics on what animals have been pre-emptively evacuated, these are most likely pigs, goats, chickens, cows and horses that produce meat, milk, eggs and other products.

To date, the NDRRMC said the number of affected families stand at 10,167 or 39,045 persons from various towns and barangays within and near the extended PDZ.

Of the number, 5,466 families or 18,904 persons are being served in 28 different evacuation centers where some 628 persons have been reported to have fallen ill, with the most common ailments being cases of cough and colds followed by fever, acute respiratory infection, headache, HPN, dizziness, skin disease, abdominal pain, colds and acute gastroenteritis.

Lava flow

The unabated oozing of fresh lava out of the summit crater of Mayon Volcano has further stretched the lava flows to 2,500 meters yesterday inside the Mi-isi Gully, and 1,800 meters along the Bonga Gully, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported.

Phivolcs said that collapse debris remained confined at 3,300-meter distance from the crater.

It also reported two dome-collapse pyroclastic density currents (PDC) that lasted two to three minutes, 301 rockfall events and a volcanic earthquake were recorded in the past 24-hour monitoring.

Paul Alanis, Phivolcs resident volcanologist at the Lignon Hill Observatory in Legazpi City, said these long stretches of lava flows were due to the slow but incessant lava spewing of Mayon in a round-the-clock duration.

“Because the lava effusion continues, we could really expect the lava to further roll down. But lava fronts are still far from breaching the six-kilometer radius permanent danger zone at present,” Alanis told The STAR.

He said that images taken through Phivolcs drones had given them the exact location of the lava flows and the collapse debris.

Alert Level 3 is still maintained over Mayon, as there is still a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater.

“Continuous moderate degassing from the summit crater produced steam-laden plumes that rose 800 meters before drifting to the general west, sulfur dioxide emission averaged 389 tons per day on June 19,” the state bureau added.

Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office OIC Eugene Escobar said the number of evacuees decreased after 100 families not residing inside the six-kilometer radius PDZ were sent home yesterday. – Cet Dematera, Romina Cabrera