RAISED TO ALERT LEVEL 3!

The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised it at exactly 3:37 p.m. Thursday, 01 July 2021 after Taal let go of a phreatomagmatic eruption from the main crater that occurred at around 3:16 p.m. and lasted five minutes.

Based on visual monitors, the explosion generated a dark jetted plume approximately one kilometer high.

As a nasty prelude, Taal has already been spewing record high sulfur dioxide emissions averaging 14,241 tonnes/day and 13,287 tonnes/day respectively on 28 June and 1 July 2021.

Precautionary measures

With it, the Phivolcs advised local government units to check on the health of residents and give them precautionary measures as continued inhalation of SO2 causes eye irritation, shortness of breath and other relative effects.

Aside from the complaints of residents, the abnormal level of SO2 already affected plants with farmers complaining the leaves of their vegetables wilting away amid the increased S02 in the air.

Agricultural authorities estimated damages in several farms in Laurel, Tanauan City and other LGUs located near Taal to be around P24 million on the 30th of June.

Satellite image

The marked increase in volcanic gas that started on 28 June 2021 generated plumes that rose some three (3) kilometers above Taal Volcano Island forming, as a result volcanic smog or vog that eventually enveloped in haze communities living within the 14-km Danger Zone.

A satellite image from NASA traced it down to have scattered to as far away as Ilocos up north and Sorsogon down south.

And the most critical situation the province of Batangas has been praying hard not to happen amid the already strained health situation amid the Covid-19 pandemic, has unfortunately played out now in reality.

Evacuation

Complete evacuation in some parts of Agoncillo and Laurel, Batangas is one thing, while another is how to prevent evacuation centers from becoming super spreader centers of the dreaded Covid-19 virus.

Good thing, the province saw this coming and preparation was made even after the alert level was lowered to Alert Level 2 before in the month of March this year.

Private school owners and church leaders responded to the call by the provincial government and promised to allow the use of vacant spaces should an emergency from Taal happen again amid the current pandemic which needs spaced out accommodation at shelters.

Phivolcs chief of volcano monitoring division Maria Antonia Bornas said evacuation was recommended in the Taal Volcano Island (TVI), Taal Lake, Agoncillo, Batangas (Banyaga, Bilibinwang), and Laurel, Batangas (Gulod, Boso-Boso, Lakeshore Bugaan East).

Evacuation was recommended due to possible hazards of pyroclastic density currents and volcanic tsunami.

Ready

Batangas Governor Hermilando Mandanas said the province is ready for the evacuation, and that he already sent transportation for the people.

This is mainly attributed to the fact that LGUs like Talisay, Laurel, Tanauan and other areas have long laid out their respective mass evacuation plans.

Phivolcs Director Renato Solidum Jr. said if the current unrest continues, they may raise the alert level to 4 even as he noted that it can also be downgraded the moment volcanic activities subside.

The National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRMMC), meanwhile, said it is closely monitoring the situation at the Taal Volcano even as the Department of Health recommended the wearing of face masks, especially the N95 kind.

As of this writing, more than 3,500 families or around 15,000 individuals have been evacuated from the critical areas mentioned above.

“Ang ine-evacuate natin ngayon ay mahigit na…yung nakalista at ready to evacuate doon sa limang barangay (Agoncillo, Batangas: Banyaga at Bilibinwang; Laurel Batangas: Gulod, Boso-boso, Lakeshore Bugaan East) ay 3,523 families o 14,495 individuals…nakahanda na rin ‘yung mga evacuation centers sa ngayon, pero kakaunti pa ang nag-evacuate dahil nga kailangan may social distancing,” Mandanas said.

(IAmigo)