Glowing red lava spurts down Mount Mayon. Ash falls on towns. More than 34,000 villagers flee to safety. Police set up checkpoints. They say to tourists, “Don’t get too close!” They command villagers: “Don’t go back—not even to feed your animals!”

The spewing volcano stands in Albay province, Philippines. To escape it, some take shelter in schools turned into evacuation centers. Can you imagine going to a school that had volcano days instead of snow days? Philippine officials want to make sure kids don’t miss too much school though. They may ask people to build temporary school sites. They also plan to set up evacuation areas for people’s water buffaloes, cows, pigs and poultry.

Huge volcano eruptions have killed hundreds of people in the Philippines in the past. So people watch Mount Mayon carefully. Right now, lava flows. But will the mountain blow?

(AP Photo: Lava pours down the slopes of the Mayon volcano.)