Evacuees rose to almost 4,000 after Mayon Volcano spews another ash plume

NAGA CITY – Mayon Volcano has spewed another ash plume on Tuesday, 3 November, prompting evacuations to continue and rise to almost 4,000 individuals in Albay towns and cities near its slopes.

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) said a 1,600-meter ash plume emitted from the summit crater of Mayon Volcano during a minor Strombolian event at 8:22 a.m. The ash plume drifted Southwest of the volcano, triggering warning of possible ashfall in the third district towns of Guinobatan, Jovellar, Libon, Oas, Pio Duran, and Polangui.

Meanwhile, Albay Public Safety and Emergency Management Office (APSEMO) reported that the number of evacuated families in Albay has risen to 1,083, or 3,903 individuals as of Tuesday noon.

The displaced families were from the cities of Tabaco and Ligao and the towns of Malilipot and Camalig. Tabaco City had the most number of families evacuated with 519, followed by Malilipot with 350, Camalig with 206, and Ligao City with eight.

The Albay Provincial Health Office has distributed 22,000 surgical masks to health facilities and local government units affected by the heightened activities of Mayon Volcano.

In its report, APSEMO said more face masks, hygiene kits, potable water, jerrycans, and relief goods are immediate needs of communities affected by the eruption.

Mayon Volcano remains under Alert Level 3 (increased tendency towards a hazardous eruption). The public is warned against entering the six-kilometer permanent danger zone and conducting any activity at the slopes of the volcano due to the possibility of lava flows and hazardous pyroclastic density current or “uson.”