Some Taal volcano eruption evacuees have headed back to the ash-covered area to rescue their animals.
In one photograph, a man wearing a mask carries a dog to safety, cradling it like a baby as he walks along the street coated with ash. In other photos, residents lead frightened livestock to boats that float atop blackened waters.
Although no deaths have been reported, an estimated $10 million worth of crops and livestock have been damaged by the on-going eruption, according to the country’s agriculture department. The Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology raised the alert level to four out of five, warning that another hazardous eruption could take place anytime. Yet residents have defied the agency’s warnings for years, violating laws against setting up homes in permanent danger zones on the island.
The area was declared government-protected and later a national park, meaning it should be off-limits to permanent settlers. However, that has never been enforced and the volcano’s destructive explosions have proven deadly in the past killing more than 200 people in 1965. Philippine Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana warned that the “worse-case scenario” for Taal could be similar to the eruption of Mount Pinatubo, 90 miles to the north, that killed 800 people and rendered 200,000 homeless in 1991.Taal is among two dozen active volcanoes in the Philippines. The country is part of the Pacific “Ring of Fire,” a seismically active region prone to earthquakes and volcanic eruptions.
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