The Cabildo de La Palma has asked the Ministry of Defense for support to transfer farmers from the port of Tazacorte to the banana plantations located on the coast, as the land routes have been interrupted by the lava flows from the Cumbre Vieja volcano.
The Navy is evaluating the possibility of using the LCM-1E landing craft of the Naval Beach Group to do this. These vessels' main mission is moving troops and means from amphibious ships to the coast in these types of naval operations.
The Tornado Maritime Action Vessel sets sail today from the Las Palmas Arsenal with a reconnaissance team that will study the conditions of the coast and the sea beds in the vicinity of the Port of Tazacorte over the next few days. The vessel has been supporting the island in this crisis since October 10 and it has been used to transport material for the installation of the desalination plants in Puerto Naos. The reconnaissance team is made up of some 20 people, including representatives of the Tercio de Armada and the Naval Beach Group. The underwater reconnaissance will be carried out by the Canary Islands Diving Unit, supported by the 'Tornado' units of the Canary Islands Naval Command.
Desalination plants are at risk
Reconnaissance tasks are scheduled to begin early tomorrow, once the Tornado docks in the port of Tazacorte. The aforementioned desalination plants in Puerto Naos are of particular concern now as the lava has flowed to an area that is only 200 meters away from the road that leads to them.
Yesterday, the technical director of the Canary Islands Volcanic Emergency Plan (Pevolca), Miguel Angel Morcuende, stated that the lava flow in zone 3 had moved in the last hours on the so-called lava flow 11 threatening one of the two ways to Puerto Naos.
Lava flow 11 seeks to join lava flow 3, flowing from the north of the Cogote mountain, only about 200 meters away from the road, the expert said. "There is a probability that it will block the road soon." This complicates matters, said Morcuende, especially with regard to the irrigation of banana plantations in Puerto Naos and the work for the desalination plants. It makes it harder to transfer machinery and people, so we'll have to create a new path to solve the communication problem.
According to data from the Copernicus satellite, provided by the Pevolca technical director, the volcano has already affected 967.85 hectares, i.e. 4.2 more in the last 24 hours. A total of 281.9 hectares devoted to crops have been affected. 158.79 hectares, i.e. more than half of all of the affected area, are devoted to growing bananas, 58 hectares are used to grow grapes, and 23 hectares to grow avocado.
Source: abc.es