LEGAZPI CITY — The provincial board of Albay has declared a state of calamity in the province due to the threat of eruption of Mayon Volcano.
Board Member Joseph Philip Lee, head of the Committee on Crisis and Emergency Management, said the declaration would allow local government units to use their calamity funds to assist the affected areas.
Alert level 3 is still hoisted over the volcano as of Tuesday. At least 6,459 families or 24,752 persons were already evacuated from 29 barangays in the 6-kilometer radius permanent danger zone (PDZ) and 8-kilometer high danger zone.
Based on Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management data, as of September 2016, at least 2,430 families or 10,508 persons were still living inside the 6-kilometer radius PDZ; 7,218 families or 34,482 persons in 6.5 to 8-kilometer high danger zone and 16,411 families or 73,583 persons in 8 to 10-kilometer high risk danger zone.
Cedric Daep, head of the Albay Public Safety Emergency Management Office (APSEMO), said the province has more than P90 million calamity fund.
The Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) is closely monitoring road networks and river channels in Albay as it prepares for the threat of a hazardous eruption of Mayon Volcano.
The agency has also pre-positioned heavy equipment and service vehicles to aid in road clearing operations, the evacuation of residents, and the delivery of relief goods.
Danilo Versola, DPWH director for the Bicol region, has ordered three DPWH district engineering offices to keep a close eye on roads and rivers that may be affected by lava from the volcano.
“In a worst-case scenario, we identified alternate routes to prevent the isolation of municipalities highly vulnerable to ash plume and volcanic mudflows or lahar,” he said in a statement.
Earlier, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) warned of a possible hazardous eruption within days or weeks from the volcano.
A hazardous or explosive eruption is defined as a lava fountain or a spray of hot rocks and gases that could move as fast as 60 kilometers per hour.
The volcano first spewed ash and rocks over the weekend, followed by lava and ash on Monday night, prompting more than 12,000 residents to flee their homes.