‘WE WERE SO SCARED’: Indonesia volcano blows, forcing mass evacuation and shutting Bali airport
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
November 27, 2017
Updated:
November 27, 2017 8:08 AM EST
General view of Mount Agung during an eruption seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency, on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on November 26, 2017. Mount Agung belched smoke as high as 1,500 metres above its summit, sparking an exodus from settlements near the mountain. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKASONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
KARANGASEM, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities ordered a mass evacuation of people Monday from an expanded danger zone around an erupting volcano on Bali that has forced the island’s international airport to close, stranding tens of thousands of travellers.
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash about 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater, sometimes reflected as a reddish-yellow glow in the ash plumes. Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometres (7 1/2 miles) away.
Balinese people ride on an open car past Mount Agung erupting seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency, on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on November 27, 2017. An eruption could be imminent at the volcano belching huge plumes of smoke on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, officials warned, as they raised the alert to the highest level and increased the exclusion zone. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKASONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Videos released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed a mudflow of volcanic debris and water known as a lahar moving down the volcano’s slopes. It said lahars could increase because it is rainy season and warned people to stay away from rivers.
The agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level early Monday and expanded the danger zone to 10 kilometres (6 miles) in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometres. It said a larger eruption is possible.
A view of the Mount Agung volcano erupting in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali erupted for the second time in a week on Saturday, disrupting international flights even as authorities said the island remains safe. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. He said about 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don’t want to abandon their livestock.
“Authorities will comb the area to persuade them,” he said. “If needed we will forcibly evacuate them.” About 25,000 people were already living in evacuation centres after an increase in tremors from the mountain in September sparked an evacuation.
Tourists watch the Mount Agung volcano erupting as they visit a temple in Karangasem, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. Indonesia authorities raised the alert for the rumbling volcano to highest level on Monday and closed the international airport on tourist island of Bali stranding thousands of travelers. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Lava rising in the crater “will certainly spill over to the slopes,” Sutopo said.
The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Villager Putu Sulasmi said she fled with her husband and other family members to a sports hall that is serving as an evacuation centre.
“We came here on motorcycles. We had to evacuate because our house is just 3 miles from the mountain. We were so scared with the thundering sound and red light,” she said.
A boy takes pictures during Mount Agung’s eruption seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on November 26, 2017. Mount Agung belched smoke as high as 1,500 metres above its summit, sparking an exodus from settlements near the mountain. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKASONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
The family had stayed at the same sports centre in September and October when the volcano’s alert was at the highest level for several weeks but it didn’t erupt. They had returned to their village about a week ago.
“If it has to erupt let it erupt now rather than leaving us in uncertainty. I’ll just accept it if our house is destroyed,” she said.
Bali’s airport was closed early Monday after ash, which can pose a deadly threat to aircraft, reached its airspace.
Flight information boards showed rows of cancellations as tourists arrived at the busy airport expecting to catch flights home.
Airport spokesman Air Ahsanurrohim said 445 flights were cancelled, stranding about 59,000 travellers. The closure is in effect until Tuesday morning though officials said the situation will be reviewed every six hours. It had a ripple effect across Indonesia, causing delays at other airports because Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport is a national hub with many transiting flights.
Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about 5 million visitors a year.
Some flights to and from Bali were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday but most had continued to operate normally as the towering ash clouds were moving east toward the neighbouring island of Lombok.
“We now have to find a hotel and spend more of our money that they’re not going to cover us for when we get home unfortunately,” said Canadian tourist Brandon Olsen, who was stranded at Bali’s airport with his girlfriend.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Land Transportation said 100 buses were being deployed to Bali’s international airport and to ferry terminals to help travellers stranded by the eruption.
The agency’s chief, Budi, said major ferry crossing points have been advised to prepare for a surge in passengers and vehicles. Stranded tourists could leave Bali by taking a ferry to neighbouring Java and then travelling by land to the nearest airports.
Indonesia’s tourism ministry said member hotels of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association will provide a night’s free accommodation to people affected by the airport closure.
Ash has settled on villages and resorts around the volcano, and soldiers and police distributed masks over the weekend.
In Karangasem district that surrounds the volcano, tourists stopped to watch the towering plumes of ash as children made their way to school.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has more than 120 active volcanoes.
Mount Agung’s alert status was raised to the highest level in September following a dramatic increase in tremors from the mountain, which prompted more than 140,000 people to leave the area. The alert was lowered on Oct. 29 after a decrease in activity, but about 25,000 people remained in evacuation centres.
——
Wright reported from Jakarta. Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta contributed to this report.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/indonesia-volcano-forces-mass-evacuation-shuts-bali-airport
Canadians stranded in Bali as Mount Agung erupts
Canadian Press
More from Canadian Press
Published:
November 27, 2017
Updated:
November 28, 2017 12:49 AM EST
Some Canadians were trapped in Bali on Monday after Indonesian authorities ordered 100,000 people to flee from an erupting volcano that prompted the closure of the international airport.
Global Affairs Canada said 403 Canadians in Bali have registered with its Registration of Canadians Abroad service but there may be more.
“As registration is voluntary, this is not necessarily a complete picture of Canadians in the region,” Global Affairs spokeswoman Brianne Maxwell said in an email.
Mount Agung has been spewing clouds of white and dark grey ash about 3,000 metres above its cone since the weekend and lava is welling in the crater, sometimes reflected as an orange-red glow in the ash plumes. Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometres away.
The local airport authority said the closure for another 24 hours was required for safety reasons. Volcanic ash poses a deadly threat to aircraft, and ash from Agung is moving south-southwest toward the airport.
Richard Chang, a 31-year-old Canadian vacationing in the central part of the island with his fiancee and four friends, said his flight scheduled for Monday afternoon local time was cancelled.
Richard Chang, 31, and Shilpa Mody, 32, both of Mississauga, Ont., and living currently in San Francisco, CA., are two of the 403 registered Canadians currently trapped in Bali, Indonesia, as the eruption of Mount Agung, rear right, has left the international airport on the island closed. Chang and Mody are seen in this Nov. 27, 2017, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Shilpa Mody
The Mississauga, Ont.-native, who now lives in San Francisco, said they decided to move south to the area of Jimbaran to be close to the airport in case they need to make quick travel plans.
“We don’t get the sense that the volcano is a danger to us,” Chang said. “It’s just the air traffic — there is a lot of ash and debris that is going into the air that is grounding flights.”
Chang said arranging a flight from another airport has proven difficult, since many airlines fly out of Jakarta, about 26 hours by car 15 hours by boat.
He said he has a flight scheduled for Wednesday with Taiwanese airline EVA Air, but said he doesn’t expect the airport to be open by then.
“We’re assuming that the chances of us getting back to work are pretty much zero,” Chang said. “So we’re looking at just trying to get back in the safest, most guaranteed way before the end of the week or over the weekend.”
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level Monday and expanded an exclusion zone to 10 kilometres from the crater in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometres. It said a larger eruption is possible, though a top government volcanologist has also said the volcano could continue for weeks at its current level of activity and not erupt explosively.
Agung’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Another Canadian stuck in Bali is Chantal Desjardins, a Montreal-based media personality and standup comic who was due to fly out Tuesday.
Desjardins said she was at a hotel about 70 kilometres away, and there was no word on evacuating her area.
She said that, according to her airline, the earliest she’ll be able to leave is next Tuesday.
“We were supposed to leave tomorrow and we found out all of the airlines are cancelled and the first flight out is going to be Dec. 5,” Desjardins said. “So my holiday just got extended by a little bit.”
Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about five million visitors a year.
Desjardins was within several kilometres of the volcano a few days ago.
“We saw some of the ashes coming up and we thought ‘oh, this is really cool!’,” she said. “Now, it’s like, maybe I could have watched it on the news and it still could have been cool from another place.”
Messages were sent to registered Canadians on Monday and the federal department’s advisory for Indonesia was updated over the weekend.
Only one Canadian in the region has requested information, and Maxwell says they are ready to provide consular assistance as needed.
— Canadians requiring emergency consular assistance should contact the nearest Canadian government office or the Global Affairs Canada 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa by collect phone call at +1-613-996-8885 or by email at sos@international.gc.ca.
With files from Associated Press, Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal, and Peter Goffin and Daniela Germano in Toronto.
Canadians stranded in Bali as Mount Agung erupts | Toronto Sun
Associated Press
More from Associated Press
Published:
November 27, 2017
Updated:
November 27, 2017 8:08 AM EST
General view of Mount Agung during an eruption seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency, on Indonesia's resort island of Bali on November 26, 2017. Mount Agung belched smoke as high as 1,500 metres above its summit, sparking an exodus from settlements near the mountain. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKASONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
KARANGASEM, Indonesia — Indonesian authorities ordered a mass evacuation of people Monday from an expanded danger zone around an erupting volcano on Bali that has forced the island’s international airport to close, stranding tens of thousands of travellers.
Mount Agung has been hurling clouds of white and dark grey ash about 3,000 metres (9,800 feet) into the atmosphere since the weekend and lava is welling up in the crater, sometimes reflected as a reddish-yellow glow in the ash plumes. Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometres (7 1/2 miles) away.
Balinese people ride on an open car past Mount Agung erupting seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency, on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on November 27, 2017. An eruption could be imminent at the volcano belching huge plumes of smoke on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali, officials warned, as they raised the alert to the highest level and increased the exclusion zone. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKASONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
Videos released by the National Disaster Mitigation Agency showed a mudflow of volcanic debris and water known as a lahar moving down the volcano’s slopes. It said lahars could increase because it is rainy season and warned people to stay away from rivers.
The agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level early Monday and expanded the danger zone to 10 kilometres (6 miles) in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometres. It said a larger eruption is possible.
A view of the Mount Agung volcano erupting in Karangasem, Bali, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. The volcano on the Indonesian tourist island of Bali erupted for the second time in a week on Saturday, disrupting international flights even as authorities said the island remains safe. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati
Spokesman Sutopo Purwo Nugroho told a news conference in Jakarta that the extension of the danger zone affects 22 villages and about 90,000 to 100,000 people. He said about 40,000 people have evacuated but others have not left because they feel safe or don’t want to abandon their livestock.
“Authorities will comb the area to persuade them,” he said. “If needed we will forcibly evacuate them.” About 25,000 people were already living in evacuation centres after an increase in tremors from the mountain in September sparked an evacuation.
Tourists watch the Mount Agung volcano erupting as they visit a temple in Karangasem, Indonesia, Monday, Nov. 27, 2017. Indonesia authorities raised the alert for the rumbling volcano to highest level on Monday and closed the international airport on tourist island of Bali stranding thousands of travelers. (AP Photo/Firdia Lisnawati)
Lava rising in the crater “will certainly spill over to the slopes,” Sutopo said.
The volcano’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Villager Putu Sulasmi said she fled with her husband and other family members to a sports hall that is serving as an evacuation centre.
“We came here on motorcycles. We had to evacuate because our house is just 3 miles from the mountain. We were so scared with the thundering sound and red light,” she said.
A boy takes pictures during Mount Agung’s eruption seen from Kubu sub-district in Karangasem Regency on Indonesia’s resort island of Bali on November 26, 2017. Mount Agung belched smoke as high as 1,500 metres above its summit, sparking an exodus from settlements near the mountain. / AFP PHOTO / SONNY TUMBELAKASONNY TUMBELAKA/AFP/Getty Images
The family had stayed at the same sports centre in September and October when the volcano’s alert was at the highest level for several weeks but it didn’t erupt. They had returned to their village about a week ago.
“If it has to erupt let it erupt now rather than leaving us in uncertainty. I’ll just accept it if our house is destroyed,” she said.
Bali’s airport was closed early Monday after ash, which can pose a deadly threat to aircraft, reached its airspace.
Flight information boards showed rows of cancellations as tourists arrived at the busy airport expecting to catch flights home.
Airport spokesman Air Ahsanurrohim said 445 flights were cancelled, stranding about 59,000 travellers. The closure is in effect until Tuesday morning though officials said the situation will be reviewed every six hours. It had a ripple effect across Indonesia, causing delays at other airports because Bali’s I Gusti Ngurah Rai airport is a national hub with many transiting flights.
Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about 5 million visitors a year.
Some flights to and from Bali were cancelled on Saturday and Sunday but most had continued to operate normally as the towering ash clouds were moving east toward the neighbouring island of Lombok.
“We now have to find a hotel and spend more of our money that they’re not going to cover us for when we get home unfortunately,” said Canadian tourist Brandon Olsen, who was stranded at Bali’s airport with his girlfriend.
Indonesia’s Directorate General of Land Transportation said 100 buses were being deployed to Bali’s international airport and to ferry terminals to help travellers stranded by the eruption.
The agency’s chief, Budi, said major ferry crossing points have been advised to prepare for a surge in passengers and vehicles. Stranded tourists could leave Bali by taking a ferry to neighbouring Java and then travelling by land to the nearest airports.
Indonesia’s tourism ministry said member hotels of the Indonesia Hotel and Restaurant Association will provide a night’s free accommodation to people affected by the airport closure.
Ash has settled on villages and resorts around the volcano, and soldiers and police distributed masks over the weekend.
In Karangasem district that surrounds the volcano, tourists stopped to watch the towering plumes of ash as children made their way to school.
Indonesia sits on the Pacific “Ring of Fire” and has more than 120 active volcanoes.
Mount Agung’s alert status was raised to the highest level in September following a dramatic increase in tremors from the mountain, which prompted more than 140,000 people to leave the area. The alert was lowered on Oct. 29 after a decrease in activity, but about 25,000 people remained in evacuation centres.
——
Wright reported from Jakarta. Associated Press writer Ali Kotarumalos in Jakarta contributed to this report.
http://torontosun.com/news/world/indonesia-volcano-forces-mass-evacuation-shuts-bali-airport
Canadians stranded in Bali as Mount Agung erupts
Canadian Press
More from Canadian Press
Published:
November 27, 2017
Updated:
November 28, 2017 12:49 AM EST
Some Canadians were trapped in Bali on Monday after Indonesian authorities ordered 100,000 people to flee from an erupting volcano that prompted the closure of the international airport.
Global Affairs Canada said 403 Canadians in Bali have registered with its Registration of Canadians Abroad service but there may be more.
“As registration is voluntary, this is not necessarily a complete picture of Canadians in the region,” Global Affairs spokeswoman Brianne Maxwell said in an email.
Mount Agung has been spewing clouds of white and dark grey ash about 3,000 metres above its cone since the weekend and lava is welling in the crater, sometimes reflected as an orange-red glow in the ash plumes. Its explosions can be heard about 12 kilometres away.
The local airport authority said the closure for another 24 hours was required for safety reasons. Volcanic ash poses a deadly threat to aircraft, and ash from Agung is moving south-southwest toward the airport.
Richard Chang, a 31-year-old Canadian vacationing in the central part of the island with his fiancee and four friends, said his flight scheduled for Monday afternoon local time was cancelled.
Richard Chang, 31, and Shilpa Mody, 32, both of Mississauga, Ont., and living currently in San Francisco, CA., are two of the 403 registered Canadians currently trapped in Bali, Indonesia, as the eruption of Mount Agung, rear right, has left the international airport on the island closed. Chang and Mody are seen in this Nov. 27, 2017, handout photo. THE CANADIAN PRESS/HO-Shilpa Mody
The Mississauga, Ont.-native, who now lives in San Francisco, said they decided to move south to the area of Jimbaran to be close to the airport in case they need to make quick travel plans.
“We don’t get the sense that the volcano is a danger to us,” Chang said. “It’s just the air traffic — there is a lot of ash and debris that is going into the air that is grounding flights.”
Chang said arranging a flight from another airport has proven difficult, since many airlines fly out of Jakarta, about 26 hours by car 15 hours by boat.
He said he has a flight scheduled for Wednesday with Taiwanese airline EVA Air, but said he doesn’t expect the airport to be open by then.
“We’re assuming that the chances of us getting back to work are pretty much zero,” Chang said. “So we’re looking at just trying to get back in the safest, most guaranteed way before the end of the week or over the weekend.”
Indonesia’s National Disaster Mitigation Agency raised the volcano’s alert to the highest level Monday and expanded an exclusion zone to 10 kilometres from the crater in places from the previous 7 1/2 kilometres. It said a larger eruption is possible, though a top government volcanologist has also said the volcano could continue for weeks at its current level of activity and not erupt explosively.
Agung’s last major eruption in 1963 killed about 1,100 people.
Another Canadian stuck in Bali is Chantal Desjardins, a Montreal-based media personality and standup comic who was due to fly out Tuesday.
Desjardins said she was at a hotel about 70 kilometres away, and there was no word on evacuating her area.
She said that, according to her airline, the earliest she’ll be able to leave is next Tuesday.
“We were supposed to leave tomorrow and we found out all of the airlines are cancelled and the first flight out is going to be Dec. 5,” Desjardins said. “So my holiday just got extended by a little bit.”
Bali is Indonesia’s top tourist destination, with its gentle Hindu culture, surf beaches and lush green interior attracting about five million visitors a year.
Desjardins was within several kilometres of the volcano a few days ago.
“We saw some of the ashes coming up and we thought ‘oh, this is really cool!’,” she said. “Now, it’s like, maybe I could have watched it on the news and it still could have been cool from another place.”
Messages were sent to registered Canadians on Monday and the federal department’s advisory for Indonesia was updated over the weekend.
Only one Canadian in the region has requested information, and Maxwell says they are ready to provide consular assistance as needed.
— Canadians requiring emergency consular assistance should contact the nearest Canadian government office or the Global Affairs Canada 24/7 Emergency Watch and Response Centre in Ottawa by collect phone call at +1-613-996-8885 or by email at sos@international.gc.ca.
With files from Associated Press, Sidhartha Banerjee in Montreal, and Peter Goffin and Daniela Germano in Toronto.
Canadians stranded in Bali as Mount Agung erupts | Toronto Sun
