In Chilean town, living in the ashes of Chaiten volcano

FUTALEUFU, Chile-With just three bottles of drinking water and a few boxes of food provided by the military, Remigio Ramos hunkered down Saturday in his modest home in this ash-enshrouded village to wait out Chile's erupting Chaiten volcano."I won't leave here, even by force," the 63-year-old carpenter told AFP outside the wooden house he built from scratch and lives in with Melba Ibanez."I won't leave my house and my only horse."As thousands flee Chile's largest eruption in years, the couple is among the last holding out in the village 70 kilometers (44 miles) from the volcano that in the past week has spewed a massive plume of ash over parts of Chile and Argentina, prompting health concerns for people breathing it.Only 280 out of a total population of 2,000 have chosen to stay in Futaleufu-an agricultural town and adventure gateway in picturesque Patagonia that until last week drew a steady stream of tourists.The villagers have little access to potable water or food.Several towns in Chile, which has one of the most active volcanic chains in the world, were evacuated-some by force-before and after Chaiten volcano on Tuesday spectacularly blasted out ash, lava and pyroclastic flows, after a 300-year slumber.The ash is everywhere, covering roads, rooftops, the cypress trees in the central plaza, and filtering its way into abandoned homes.The 1,000-meter (3,280-foot) volcano some 1,300 kilometers (800 miles) south of Santiago continues to belch large amounts of ash, and Futaleufu is blanketed by centimeters (inches) of a gray-white substance resembling dirty snow.Most women and children have sought refuge elsewhere in Chile or in Argentina, 10 kilometers (six miles)to the east.Several men have stayed behind, in part to guard their livestock."Government personnel have demanded we leave, but we won't abandon our animals," said Jose Garcia, whose wife and children were sheltering in Puerto Montt, a city to the north on the Pacific coast.The Chilean government has yet to evacuate Futaleufu by force, but in Chaiten, the town about 10 kilometers (six miles) from the volcano, all 4,000 inhabitants were required to leave, turning it into a ghost-town.Garcia said he was able to move around 50 of his cows southward away from the danger zone but sold the rest at just half price.A few hundred meters (yards) away, villagers-their faces covered by pharmaceutical masks-somberly queued in a local gymnasium for emergency water and food distributed by the Chilean military."Many people have fled, but I'm staying, even if I die here," said 52-year-old Toribio Baeza Miranda, his face blackened by cinders as he guided his horse pulling a cart of hay.He owns some 15 horses, and during the southern summer,from December to March,he makes a living by guiding tourists into the snow-capped Andes mountains.This year he fears the consequences of Chaiten's rude awakening, as a government vulcanologist has warned the eruption was only at the beginning stage.Officials said that with practically no data on the long-dormant Chaiten, the volcanic emissions could continue for weeks or even months. http://news.yahoo.com/s/afp/20080510/ts_afp/chileargentinavolcanotown_080510231944;_ylt=Akgu1qdx.vjIQP2kQzeaAu2FOrgF

As in the days of Noah....