NDRRMC: Almost 20K residents evacuated amid Mayon unrest

Almost 20,000 residents have been evacuated as Mayon Volcano remains under Alert Level 3, the National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) announced Friday.

NDRRMC spokesman Bernardo Alejandro IV said 18,584 are staying in 27 evacuation centers while several others are staying with relatives.

He also said 26 barangays are now directly affected by Mayon’s activities.

“Sa utos na rin ng Pangulo, we are trying to or we are doing our planning based on a 90-day scenario na talagang tuloy-tuloy ang pagsuporta natin sa lalawigan ng Albay,” Alejandro told Unang Balita.

(On the order of the President, we are doing our planning based on a 90-day scenario where our support for Albay is continuous.)

“So far ang ina-address lang po natin ay ‘yung adequacy ng mga evacuation centers. ‘Yung challenges natin… ‘yung pag-provide ng tubig, malinis na facilities, at ‘yung iba pa pong related na pangangailangan doon sa mga evacuation centers,” he addded.

(So far, we are addressing the adequacy of the evacuation centers. Our challenge is to provide water, clean facilities, and other related needs at evacuation centers.)

Earlier, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) said it recorded four volcanic earthquakes and 307 rockfall events in Mayon Volcano in the last 24 hours.

Mayon Volcano, PHIVOLCS said, is “currently in a relatively high level of unrest as magma is at the crater and hazardous eruption within weeks or even days is possible.” —KBK, GMA Integrated News