Evacuated Bali Residents Wonder If the Volcano Will Ever Stop Erupting

BALI, Indonesia — Farmer Wayan Kasih and her neighbors have had to move five times since the evacuations began in September, when Mt. Agung first showed signs of volcanic activity.

“We don’t have anything anymore, we had to sell all our cattle,” she said. Fearful of an imminent volcanic eruption, she knew she had to leave her farmland as soon as she could, so she was forced to sell her livestock — her family’s most valuable assets — at a fifth of the normal rate. And while the government has stepped in to provide sufficient amounts of rice and oil, the next meal is constantly a source of worry.

“For 18 families, we were given a single crate of eggs to last for three days,” she said.

Some 70,000 people are living in evacuation centers on the Indonesian island, where Mt. Agung has been erupting since Nov. 21. Many evacuees returned home when the volcano appeared to calm down in October, but they were forced to evacuate again when local authorities raised the alert level last month.

Continue reading on VICE NEWS.