MANILA (UPDATE) — The Office of Civil Defense (OCD) announced on Friday that it has initiated precautionary measures in anticipation of Typhoon Ada’s impact, pointing out that further actions are required because the storm may worsen the emergency situation in Albay because of the Mayon Volcano’s ongoing unrest.

The country is currently affected by Ada, the first tropical cyclone of the year, which is bringing strong winds and a lot of rain.

The storm may make landfall across Eastern Visayas and the Bicol Region, according to the state weather service Pagasa.

Strong winds and heavy rainfall might still occur in places outside the possible landfall zone, Pagasa continued.

According to OCD Assistant Secretary Bernardo Rafaelito Alejandro IV, the number of people who have been proactively evacuated from the six-kilometer permanent risk zone may rise from the current approximately 5,000 people, or roughly 1,200 households.

Evacuation centers have been prepared, he continued, and there are enough food supplies on hand to last two weeks.

It stated that if lava flow and fountaining with sporadic explosions and PDCs within the risk zone is monitored, alert level 4 may be raised.

On January 6, the Mayon Volcano was elevated to alert level 3 by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology because dome collapse pyroclastic density current (PDC), also known as “uson,” had begun.

PHIVOLCS warned that persistent, heavy rains could mobilize volcanic debris that has collected on the slopes of Mayon, raising the possibility of lahar flows in the surrounding communities.

Particularly in towns close to the volcano, provincial and city disaster risk reduction and management offices are evaluating potential preemptive evacuation locations as part of the preparatory preparations.

The persistent instability of the Mayon Volcano (which is currently at Alert Level 3) and the approaching Tropical Storm Ada have put the Bicol Region under Red Alert.

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