Another Round Of Evacuations In Chile As Calbuco Threatens To Erupt Anew

The peaks are alive, with the sound of eruptions. Amid reports that Hawaii’s Mount Kilauea is just 13 feet shot of lava overflow and possibly an eruption, Chile’s Calbuco Volcano wants to be back in the headlines.

BBC reports that after erupting twice last week, Calbuco is not willing to wait for another 42 years to explode again. The volcano, one of the 90 active peaks in the South American nation, appears to be teetering on another powerful blast.

As a result, the 6,000 residents of Rio Blanco, who had returned to their homes, were asked again to evacuate on Tuesday. Besides the inconvenience of leaving their houses and staying in evacuation shelters, Chileans also have to content with ashfall that have disrupted flights.

They may also have to live with rivers of mud because of the possibility of rainfall, as forecast by meteorologists, which would make the ash mud. The forecast is rainfall on Thursday.

Residents are wary that they may again experience damaged homes caused by mudflows as what happened last week. Some of them, like Elizabeth Matamala, a resident of Rio Blanco, plans to permanently leave the area because of the constant threat to their lives and livelihood.

Most of their livestock were transported to other areas because the grazing fields were covered by mud formed by the mixture of ash and water. Severely affected by this development is the milk industry, according to the National Agriculture Society, 50 percent of which was based in Rio Blanco.

Soldiers led the clean-up in public areas, while residents were seen sweeping the ash on the roofs of their homes.

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au