I'm forwarding the request below on behalf of Tom Mitchell at IDS - please
reply to him ([log in to unmask]).
Dear All,
I've received a request for information on
best-practice for reoccupying land evacuated
before/during a volcanic eruption. The request comes
from authorities in El Salvador who are currently
dealing with this issue following the evacuation of
10,000 people from around the Santa Ana volcano, which
erupted in October 2005 (see Situation Report below).
The volcano produes modest explosive outbursts, but
mudflows might be a more serious problem.
If you know of any articles or references that address
this issue, please send them to me and I'll relay them
to El Salvador.
Many thanks for your help in advance,
Tom Mitchell
Situation Report from www.reliefweb.int
In October, El Salvador was struck by two natural
disasters causing much suffering, hardship and, in
many cases, separating individuals from their
families. Firstly, the Ilamatepec volcano began
hurling out hot lava rocks on 1 October, killing at
least two people and forcing more than 2,000 to flee.
Secondly, the country experienced heavy rains,
flooding and landslides as a result of the passage of
Hurricane Stan through the region in early October.
Rains brought on by Hurricane Stan killed at least 69
people in 11 departments of El Salvador; 26 in La
Libertad, 22 in San Salvador, 5 in La Paz, 4 in
Usulutan, 3 in Sonsonate, 2 in Cuscatlan, 2 in San
Vicente, 2 in Santa Ana, 1 in Ahuachapan, 1 in La
Union and 1 in Morazan.
The Ilamatepec volcano, also known as Santa Ana,
located 66 kilometres (41 miles) west of the capital,
began rumbling and emitting thick plumes of smoke that
reached more than 10 kilometres (nine miles) into the
sky just after 8:30 a.m. (1430 GMT) on Saturday, 1
October. Military emergency sirens blasted, calling
for an immediate area evacuation of the nearby towns
and soon after the volcano began hurling glowing lava
and ash from its crater. The volcano began to expel
magma on the side of the town of San Blas, while the
ash was carried by a south-south-westerly wind. Hot
lava rocks expelled by the volcano ranged from the
size of a football to the size of a car. Layers of ash
up to five millimetres thick spread over the canton of
Los Naranjos, to the west of the volcano. The
municipalities of Nahuizalco and Juayua in the
department of Sonsonate and La Hachadura in the
department of Ahuachapan were also affected. The
National Emergency Committee (COEN) declared a red
alert in the area within 4,000 metres of the volcano,
and a yellow alert in other nearby areas. Some 20,000
people live in the area surrounding the volcano.
Officials with the National Emergency Committee said
that by 1 p.m. Saturday 1 October 2,250 people had
been evacuated from the danger zone and at least seven
people were injured by red hot lava rocks spewed into
the air by the eruption, according to the national
police. Two people were killed when 200 residents were evacuated from the
town of Palo Campana, located just two kilometres from the crater.
Residents fled aboard trucks when a flood of boiling water from an
underground lake rushed down from the crater from three directions. In
addition, the Ministry of Agriculture estimates that some 7,000 kmē of the
country's coffee crops have been covered in ash and have likely been
destroyed.
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