In Reply to: Where were they meant to go? posted by mr_confused on Thursday, 28. October 2010 at 00:53 Bali Time:
Prior to the eruption 22 temporary shelters were set up, and of course they are now terribly over-crowded
On 24th October the Jakarta Globe reported Yogyakarta's governor, Sri Sultan Hamengkubuwono X, as saying that there was no evacuation order yet, and that they preferred to wait and see what the latest developments were.
'The mountain never really fully erupts, it just kind of melts. I hope Mount Merapi doesn't erupt this time. But we'll still prepare evacuation plans for residents.'
I read that even after the highest alerts were issued on the 25th October, many people refused to evacuate because they wanted to safeguard their homes and protect their livelihood.
One day after the eruption and despite warnings not to do so, most of the evacuees who were returning to their village were doing so for those same reasons, and to feed their livestock.