Mayon residents moved to safer, but hotter evacuation centers

05 September 2006

LEGAZPI CITY—MAYON EVAcuees in the San Andres resettlement site in Sto. Domingo, Albay have been transferred from their old shanties made of wood and nipa to the newly built and safer prefabricated shelters even if they have to bear too much heat inside.

The prefabricated shelters made of galvanized iron sheets, steel framing, and plywood were built last week through the Office of Civil Defense in Bicol.

There are now three units being occupied by nine families there but there are 18 more prefabricated shelters to be built.

Romeo Cabria, action officer of the Municipal Disaster Coordinating Council in Sto. Domingo, said that though the prefab shelters were safer, the evacuees complained of too much heat inside during the day.

“The temperature inside these shelters reaches 34 degrees Celsius starting 10 a.m. But the evacuees do not have any other choice as we had to demolish the shanties they had made,” Cabria said.

Evacuees continue to decrease in number as around 3,222 persons from the villages of Salvacion, Miisi, and Busay in Daraga, Albay have been decamped since Sunday.

Now there are only around 27,412 persons in evacuation centers.

The decrease in the number of evacuees had also lessened the occurrence of diseases among the evacuees, said Dr. Luis Mendoza, provincial health officer.

“The cases of acute respiratory infection has decreased to only 19; diarrhea to only one; hypertension, 2; asthma, 6, but we will still continue our disease surveillance to prevent any outbreak,” Mendoza said.

Volcanologists yesterday said lava flow from Mt. Mayon remained unabated in this quiet eruption while other parameters still indicated a high level of unrest so the alert level status of 4 could not be lifted.

There were 305 tremor episodes and 11 volcanic earthquakes during the past 24-hour observation period.

The sulfur dioxide emission rate slightly increased to 2,961 tons daily from Sunday’s 2,021 tons daily, said the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology yesterday.

The normal S02 emission rate of Mt. Mayon is 500 tons daily. Ephraim Aguilar, Inquirer Southern Luzon