The Department of Science and Technology – Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (DOST-Phivolcs) is urging residents in La Castellana living near rivers, creeks, waterfalls, and other water passages to continue to be on the look-out for lahar.

Residents of Sitio Tamburong, Barangay Biak na Bato in La Castellana town were surprised to see a lahar overflowing and spilling from a creek onto the barangay’s streets recently, said DOST-Phivolcs Observatory resident volcanologist Mary Andylene Quintia.

This was after the volcano erupted early in the evening of June 3.

Quintia, who is based in La Carlota City, said lahar was also cited in Barangay Guinpanaan in Moises Padilla town and in the municipality of Binalbagan.

She said there is a possibility of its re-occurrence, as she advised people living near waterways to be always on alert and avoid these areas for their protection.

Lahar poses danger to a person’s health as its fumes contain sulfur.

She urged residents to wear masks and avoid inhaling lahar fumes.

She said lahar is a general term for volcanic sediments flowing down from the upper portion of a volcano due to heavy rains. It is not mudflow, she added.

“As of now, our geologists are on the ground monitoring and assessing the situation,” she said.

Mayor Rhummyla Nicor-Mangilimutan immediately sent municipal employees and other government agencies to clear the streets in Biak na Bato. The 62nd Infantry (Unifier) Battalion also sent its troops to help in the clearing operation.

She said a stretch of 100 to 150 meters of street in Biak na Bato was filled with lahar, but is now cleared of the volcanic debris that measured knee-deep near the barangay bridge.

Lahar also found its way into 15 houses in the barangay.

She noted that the lahar continues to flow every time it rains.

“For now, lahar has filled up the community’s drainages and has hardened,” she added.

“I am still calling on those families living in dangerous areas to come down and stay along the highway where they can be safe,” she said. (PIA-6 Negros Occidental)