Natural disasters hit WNB

West New Britain is being hard hit by natural disasters.

While it is still dealing with the aftermath of the Mt Ulawun eruption of June 26th, the volcano started spewing ashes again this morning.

To compound the situation, one bridge along the New Britain Highway, the Girity Bridge, was washed away by floods from continuous heavy rains while another bridge close to Mamota – the Luvi Bridge – was also damaged, cutting off normal traffic flow between Kimbe and Bialla.

The deputy controller of the Mt Ulawun emergency response, Leo Mapmani, said the good news was locals residing within the dangers were already in the care centres when the eruption started today.

“Communities like Noau, Voluvolu and Ulamona villages – all of them are in the respective care centres since the last eruption,” he stated.

“At this stage we will continue to provide relief assistance to the population at the care centre sites.

“We have closed down many of the care centres, and we are focusing mainly on Kabaya, which caters to the people of Ulamona, and the ones at Bakada, which caters for the people at Ulamona, Noau and Voluvolu.

“And we’ll continue to do that until such time Rabaul Volcano Observatory advises us otherwise.

“I would also like to take this opportunity to appeal to the traveling public, if you are thinking of using the New Britain Highway, at this stage you’ve got to be cautious and we’re applying our restrictions to ensure safety of the traveling public.

“Before you travel using the New Britain Highway, I urge you to call into the provincial disaster office and seek advice.”

The Mt Ulawun response team will be traveling to Bialla to beef up manpower there. They will travel tomorrow as the Girity Bridge is expected to be fixed by then.

(Picture taken this evening by Chris Lagisa)

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Press release