Nevado del Huila: things calming down 16 April 2008

Whatever the nature of the ‘process of eruptive character’ at Nevado del Huila that provoked the red alert and mass evacuations of 14/15 April, it seems to be over for now. The Washington VAAC reported ash emissions from volcano on 15 April but said that an eruption had not occurred. No satellite imagery is available, and heavy cloud cover is preventing visual observations. The cloud is making it difficult for INGEOMINAS scientists to be sure what has been going on at the volcano, but seismic activity has declined from the elevated levels recorded on 14/15 April. Observatorio Popayán has lowered the alert status to orange and evacuees are returning to their homes.

A report from the Nova Colombia news agency quotes the INGEOMINAS director, César David López, as warning that ‘although the volcanic activity has reduced, there is still the possibility of a new eruption in days or weeks’. Government emergency management officials say that the current alert will be maintained until it is clear what kind of eruptive process, if any, has been occurring. An overflight is required but the presence of heavy cloud at the volcano has so far prevented this happening. The volcano’s future behaviour remains unpredictable.

‘The volcano still lurks’, warns the Cali newspaper El País, adopting a tone verging on the apocalyptic:

Although yesterday the alert changed from red to orange, the threat to the surrounding area from an eruption of Nevado del Huila remains. For more than two weeks the devil has been nearby, betrayed by the smell of sulfur that hangs in the atmosphere of Belalcázar (Cauca). On Monday night the ‘beast’ tried to escape through the mouth of Nevado del Huila, but repented the attempt.

El País reports that the evacuation was very orderly, and that 4,000 people out of a local population of 13,000 were evacuated.

No-one could accuse either the Colombian authorities or the local people of responding slowly to the alert, but there does seem to have been a lack of adequate preparation for dealing with the evacuation. El Tiempo reports that of 4,500 inhabitants of Belalcázar, 3,000 had fled their homes within 20 minutes of the red alert. They went on to spend an uncomfortable night in the rain, many in the open air or under trees, because of the lack of facilities at the evacuation site: only five tents for over 2,000 people, and a shortage of blankets and mattresses. The people returned to their homes yesterday afternoon, complaining of the ‘dreadful conditions they had found themselves in at the so-called “safe areas”, despite the fact that the eruption had been expected for weeks’.

The mayor of Belalcázar told El Tiempo that the district needed an emergency budget of 280 million pesos, and had been left with only 1.8 million, while the local Red Cross complained of a shortage of personnel, vehicles and stretchers. In response, the director of the Oficina de Prevención y Atención de Desastres, Luz Amanda Pulido, said that the office had been providing the necessary funds but that how that money is spent locally is decided by the local authorities, who have not always worked well together: ‘yesterday in my office we had a consensus that we had never had before. The Governor of Cauca, the Mayor of Belalcazar and the Directorate, they always go different ways’.

Information
Smithsonian Institution Global Volcanism Program – summary information for Nevado del Huila (1501-05=)
Portal Corporativo de INGEOMINAS – main page for the Instituto Colombiano de Geología y Minería
INGEOMINAS Popayán – main page for the Observatorio Popoyán, which monitors Nevado del Huila
Sistema Nacional para la Prevención y Atención de Desastres – main page for the Colombian national emergencies office

News
Colombian volcano erupts in ash shower – Associated Press, 15 April 2008
Thousands evacuated after Colombian volcano erupts – Reuters, 15 April 2008
Así pasaron noche del lunes habitantes de ribera del río Páez, huyendo del volcán nevado del Huila – El Tiempo, 16 April 2008 (Spanish)
El volcán aún acecha – El País, 16 April 2008 (Spanish)
Alerta por el volcán Nevado del Huila baja de Rojo a Naranja – Nova Colombia, 16 April 2008 (Spanish)