About 60 families from Gondang Legi village in Wedomartani subdistrict in  Yogyakarta pooled Rp 5 million (US$560) of their own money to rent heavy equipment to build a barrier to deflect mud flows away from their homes.

“We cannot just wait for the government to do it for us, otherwise volcanic mud will submerge the whole village,” resident Sakiran.

Local residents said Monday the government should be well prepared to handle mud and lava flows sparked by volcanic eruptions because Merapi had been a constant threat for hundreds of years.

Experts in Yogyakarta have said a lack of anticipation on the part of the government has resulted in chaotic attempts to handle the refugees.

Sleman regency prepared refugee camps with a combined capacity of 12,000 people. However, the number of refugees from the area has exceeded 65,000.

The total number of refugees in the four regencies around Merapi — Sleman in Yogyakarta and Magelang, Boyolali and Klaten in Central Java — had reached nearly 280,000 by Monday, according to the National Disaster Management Agency (BNPB). The total number of refugee camps have a combined capacity of 40,000 people.

At an evacuation center in Bendosari, Magelang, about 500 people who have taken refugees into their houses are running short of supplies, and were hit by blackouts.

However, the refugee center in Maguwoharjo Stadium, Sleman, has an abundance of supplies, including food and clean clothes, but is lacking in sanitary facilities.

“The rapid change in the radius of the danger zone to 20 kilometers from the peak of Merapi has resulted in difficulties in the distribution of supplies,” visiting Coordinating Public Welfare Minister Agung Laksono said Monday.

BNPB deputy head Sugeng Tri Utomo said Monday distributing logistics to  more than 220 refugee centers was not easy.

He said there were more than enough supplies for all of the refugees, citing that each affected regency had stored 100 tons of rice and each affected province 200 tons of rice. The government has allocated an additional Rp 250 billion for the disaster effort.

At least 60 refugees at the sta-dium have been reported to be experiencing stress, while a few others were diagnosed with severe depression.

“We have sent five to six of them to the hospital for further treatment,” said a psychologist at the center, Veqentina Puspa Indah.

On Monday there were signs the intensity of Merapi’s eruptions was decreasing, but hot ash clouds were still seen rising from the mountain almost continuously.

A number of volcanologists from the US have joined the observation team.

The Volcanic Technology Development and Research Center in Yogyakarta has also installed three seismometers around the mountain, after four were destroyed in the eruptions.

As of Monday Yogyakarta Adi-sucipto Airport was still not operating over fears ash from the volcano could damage aircraft engines.

Hundreds of passengers were seen queuing at the airport, either to book new flights or demand compensation.

“My flight has been canceled three times. If it is canceled again, what choice will I have but to wait?” Elizabeth Amelia, a passenger heading to Balikpapan, East Kalimantan, said.

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