23 July 2006
STO. DOMINGO, ALBAY—AN unexpected deluge of evacuees has overwhelmed two evacuation centers here ahead of an eruption of Mayon volcano.
Residents of four villages fled their homes after thick blasts of ash rose from the volcano on Friday.
As a result, the Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council (MDCC) was forced to open the San Andres resettlement site, one of Sto. Domingo’s two evacuation centers, to accommodate residents from four villages.
Vice Mayor Edna Banda said the evacuation was premature because the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology had not raised the alert level on the volcano. Alert level three remains over Mayon.
As of 4 p.m. Friday, there were 299 families, or 1,524 persons, from four villages affected by ashfall, said Jukes Nuñez of the Albay Provincial Disaster Coordinating Council.
The affected villages are Sta. Misericordia, Fidel Surdita, San Isidro and Lidong.
According to Banda, the evacuation centers are still ill prepared to accommodate all fleeing residents. “There are problems with the water system and lighting,” she said.
She added that they did not have enough funds to provide for the needs of the evacuees.
MDCC action officer Romeo Cabria said there were only two evacuation centers which have to accommodate 9,323 persons or 2,095 families from five villages.
One evacuee, Beata Balingbing, 59, said she and her family would rather stay by the roadside than stay at the crowded evacuation centers.
“Our children usually got sick when we stayed in evacuation centers,” Balingbing said. Ephraim Aguilar, PDI Southern Luzon Bureau
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