San Carlos readies 3 evac sites for Kanlaon evacuees

The San Carlos City government is preparing three evacuation sites for Kanlaon volcano eruption evacuees, Mayor Renato Gustilo said Tuesday.

Gustilo said that the city government is developing the evacuation sites in the Cudcud- Quezon area, a two-hectare land in Prosperidad and another three-hectare lot at the city property.

The mayor said they are willing to accommodate as many people as they can.

He said the area is good for Canlaon City, Negros Oriental and another area for affected residents of Brgy. Cudcud, San Carlos City.

“We are currently developing the said areas. A major concern is funding for the development of the evacuation areas,” Gustilo pointed out.

The mayor said the Office of Civil Defense has not committed to give tents and are in the process of assessing the areas.

“A priority is the putting up of comfort rooms and water system. A big problem is food for the evacuees,” he said, adding that they cannot possibly sustain feeding all of them for a long period of time.

“They will drain the city’s coffers and no money will be left anymore for other developments of the city,” he said.

“We are studying who are the residents with relatives in Canlaon City. We are trying to get data if they can accommodate their relatives. It’s like an ‘Adopt A Home setup,” Gustilo said.

However, Gustilo said if there is a full-blown eruption they will not be affected as it will be up to the city’s boundary with Canlaon.

Data from the Office of Civil Defense shows that if the alert level is raised to Alert Level 4 which will cover about six to 10 kilometers danger zone, a total of 1,637 families composed of 6, 556 individuals will be affected in San Carlos.

A total of 8,857 families composed of 27,022 persons will be affected, the data showed.* (EYA)