THE National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council (NDRRMC) yesterday said 153 individuals displaced by the June 3 “explosive eruption” of Kanlaon Volcano in Negros Island have experienced various ailments while inside evacuation centers.
Citing information from the Department of Health, the NDRRMC said the ailments included cough, abdominal pain, headache, fever and hypertension.
Meanwhile, the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (Phivolcs) reported just one volcanic quake at Kanlaon Volcano on Wednesday, the lowest since the eruption.
Phivolcs also said the volcano’s sulfur dioxide emission on Wednesday was measured at 2,792 tons. This generated a 300-meter plume that drifted southwest.
Seven volcanic earthquakes recorded at Kanlaon Volcano on Tuesday. The volcano’s sulfur dioxide emission that day was placed at 3,431 tons.
NDRRMC spokesman Edgar Posadas said these cases were reported in La Castellana town in Negros Occidental, particularly at the evacuation centers at the La Castellana South Elementary School with 97 cases and La Castellana High School with 56 cases.
Posadas said the DOH reported the figures during an NDRRMC meeting last June 11. He said the data was as of June 6, or three days after the volcano’s eruption.
“The top five reasons for the consultation are cough, abdominal pain, headache, fever and increased blood pressure,” said Posadas.
Posadas said there was no report of evacuees needing hospitalization.
Posadas said not all these can be attributed to the unrest of Kanlaon Volcano, noting that hypertension develops after some time and is “usually chronic.”
But he said cough may be directly related to the volcano’s unrest, noting that those who suffered from it may have been exposed to dust due to the eruption.
Posadas said these cases are not a cause for alarm, noting that these are “common occurrences” at evacuation centers and health workers are on top of the situation.
“They (DOH) have health teams on the ground, that’s why there are (health) consultations… Personnel are actually on the ground, along with the logistics that they need,” said Posadas, referring to health personnel.
The NDRRMC said the volcano’s unrest has affected 8,580 families or 29,739 individuals in the Western Visayas and Central Visayas regions.
Of the number, 1,830 families or 6,564 individuals were displaced. The number though was down to 1,369 families or 5,127 individuals as of yesterday morning.
