THE number of affected families has increased due to the ongoing eruption of Kanlaon Volcano in the Negros Islands.
Based on the data from the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) as of 9:00 am, Thursday, June 6th, over 600 families or more than 2,000 individuals have been affected by the volcanic activity of the said volcano.
The number of affected barangays has risen to over 20, while the affected areas remain at 2 regions, 2 provinces, and 6 cities or municipalities.
Because of this, about a thousand individuals are now temporarily taking shelter in eight evacuation centers.
In an exclusive interview with SMNI News, Christina Mayor, information officer of the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) 6, said that although they have recorded incidents of lahar flow, they have not yet implemented forced evacuation for the affected residents.
“As of now, the areas affected by the lahar flow are 2 barangays in La Castellana, which are Biyak na Bato and Barangay Kalapnagan. There is no forced evacuation in these areas considering that the lahar affected their four waterways, so the lahar did not reach residential areas,” said Christina Mayor, Information Officer, OCD 6.
However, due to the rains, they are advising residents to temporarily evacuate to avoid accidents.
“Usually during the summer, our thunderstorm advisories range from 4 to 10, let’s say 5 to 10 rainfall advisories a day, but now we are reaching thunderstorm advisory number 20, number 18. So, it is highly recommended that those along the waterways must evacuate,” Mayor added.
She emphasized that their disaster preparedness plans have long been in place, which is why their response groups were able to respond quickly.
“Negros Occidental has always been ready for this eventuality. They constantly updated their disaster preparedness manual, the last update was in 2021, and that manual already includes their response mechanisms from the barangay level. This is the reason why our response groups were able to respond quickly” Mayor said.
Meanwhile, Civil Defense Administrator, Undersecretary Ariel Nepomuceno said that their regional counterparts at the Office of Civil Defense (OCD) in Western and Central Visayas continue to collaborate with all concerned agencies and local governments for the implementation of their response protocols and possible additional support.
“There are established preparedness and response protocols that serve as guides to address this emergency. Our regional counterparts are there, on alert, to directly assist the local DRRMOs.”
“The anticipated needs are also being tackled in the series of coordination to ensure that needed support will be extended immediately,” stated Usec. Ariel Nepomuceno, Civil Defense Administrator.
