Only ash, the shells of houses left on the island of the volcano

TAAL VOLCANO, Philippines (AP) – The island is a ghost town, with only dead trees in a gray landscape, ash-covered houses and schools damaged by continuous earthquakes and an explosive volcanic eruption a year ago.

Fisherman Rogelito Cacao regularly visits his home on the volcanic island south of the Philippine capital. “I miss our goods, but now it is covered in ash, our animals, such as cows, horses, pigs, boats and our engines are covered by volcanoes, I miss that.”

Luisa Silva lived at the foot of the Taal volcano and said that life would not be the same. “Life is very difficult at the moment, we are not used to it. Here we have experienced things that we have not experienced so far, we do not know where to start “, she said.

Silva wants to return to the island if the government allows it. She said they can grow vegetables and raise animals at their homes on the island, preventing them from buying food. Their animals once transported tourists to see the picturesque crater.

A popular tourist destination located in the middle of a lake, Taal erupted on January 12, 2020.

More than 5,000 people, many of them working as tour guides, fled the small island as the earth shook and the volcano threw dark gray ash and steam into the sky. Hundreds of horses, cows and other animals were left behind.

The eruption caused an early crisis in what would become a tough year in one of the most predisposed nations in the world. A few months after the volcano sent more than 376,000 people to safety, the COVID-19 pandemic hit the country.

Many evacuees stayed in state-run emergency shelters for a while, then returned to the ash-covered cities in Batangas province as the dangers diminished.

But the volcanic island in Lake Taal is too dangerous, and the government is forbidding former residents from returning.

Some have found other homes, but about 50 families still live in tents a year after the eruption and resort to strange jobs. The head of the village of Calauit, Jimmy Tenorio, said that the rest of the families living in tents will be relocated soon.

Meanwhile, Taal is still banging, with small earthquakes and faint feathers of steam coming out of the crater on Monday.