Taal eruption: Exodus continues
Credit to Author: Tempo Desk| Date: Mon, 13 Jan 2020 04:46:36 +0000
TALISAY residents board a military truck to evacuate to safer grounds after Taal Volcano’s phreatic eruption on Sunday, January 12, 2020. (Ali Vicoy)
TALISAY, Batangas — Some of the residents living near the Taal Volcano had to wait for sunrise before they could evacuate on Monday morning to avoid being hit by falling trees and muddy rains caused by ash falls.
Gina de Ramos, 53, rushed to the peak of their mountain-village Sitio Latag in Tumaway only after the tremors stopped because it was where they “thought safe.”
“Umakyat na kami sa pinakataas na parte ng bundok kung saan kami nakatira. Grabe, nasa bundok na nga, nililindol pa,” she said while waiting in Poblacion for a service vehicle, which would transport them to an evacuation area in Tanauan.
“Kapit kapit na nga lang kami [noong lumilindol]. Nananalangin,” de Ramos said, adding that it happened at midnight.
They were only able to leave home around 6 a.m. as they “had to wait for the sun to rise.”
Aside from her husband and three children, de Ramos was also with their Dachsund dog, Frodol, which had been vomiting since Sunday after “inhaling ashes spewed by the volcano.”
“May isa pa kaming asong naiwan sa bahay.Pinipilit nya ngang sumama kaso hindi pwede kasi masyado syang malaki,” she recalled in between sobs.
Like de Ramos family, John Rey Fuente, 15, also evacuated their home in Banga just by daybreak because they “could not see the roads, which were covered by muds.”
RESIDENTS take shelter inside an evacuation center in Taal, Batangas, January 13,2020.(Czar Dancel)
“Ngayon lang kami nakaalis dahil di namin kayang lumusong, bundok pa po kasi. Tapos maputik pa saka madilim,” he said.
“May napuputol na mga puno sa tabi ng bahay. Ngayon lang naghintuan ang mga ulan na putik,” he added.
Fuente was carrying several clothes and a flat screen television, which he would bring to the evacuation area.
“Pinadala na lang po ng tatay ko [yung TV] para di masira sa bahay kapag lumindol,” he added.
Some 265 evacuees spend their night at the two-story evacuation center of Santo Tomas, Batangas, some 15-kilometer from their houses after authorities ordered immediate evacuation.
“Lumikas na po kami kasi nakakakita na kami ng bitak ng lupa sa bahay namin,” one of the evacuees Emilyn Marqueses, 38, said early Monday morning.
“Umuulan na rin ng putik kasi humalo na yung abo sa ulan. Bago kami lumikas, mga sakong na yung taas ng putik,” added Marqueses, who lives in Zone 5, Talisay.
Elmer Centeno, chief of Santo Tomas Disaster Risk Reduction Management, said that face masks were distributed to evacuees for their protection. However, they still needed food, water and sleeping mats as they evacuees only used cartons.
Amid the situation, the Filipino “bayanihan” has persisted in Batangas as several concerned citizens and other government personnel, including the Bureau of Fire Protection, were offering free car wash in various areas.
Many people had to walk on barefoot to avoid slipping on inches-thick mud while motorists were driving at slow speed while wiggling.
PATIENTS take shelter inside the Provincial Hospital in Lemery, Batangas, January 13, 2020. (Czar Dancel)
Residents were using shovels to remove the muds on the road for safety of the motorists.
By 5:40 a.m., 90 percent of the residents here were already evacuated, Vice Governor Mark Leviste said in an interview with reporters.
Authorities are prioritizing to immediately evacuate residents of Talisay and Agoncillo towns as they are situated just a 30-minute boat ride from the Taal Volcano.
Government vehicles, including of the police, military, Bureau of Fire Protection, Department of Public Works and Highways and the local government, were roaming around to transport residents to evacuation areas.