Popocatepetl Volcano Spews Volcanic Ash onto Mexico City, Stage 3 Alert

Mexico City residents are still experiencing the harsh repercussions from a deadly volcano.

Just Saturday, residents awoke to layers of volcanic dust on their cars and coming into their homes thanks to the Popocateptl volcano. Reports indicate that a cloud of ash and vapor 2 miles high was shot out from the volcano over a period of several days last week.  

Though officials note that it has been years since the city has seen noticeable volcanic ash, Claudia Dominguez, spokeswoman for the Mexico City civil defense office, said that very fine ash has probably been hitting the city due to volcanic acitivity from previous days and may have worsened with rainfall that came Friday.

Mexico's National Center for Disaster Prevention reported that security warnings have changed from Stage 2 Yellow to Stage 3 Yellow, with the final more rare red stage alert in case of emergency for evacuation. 

According to CBS News, Mexico City civil protection secretary Fausto Lugo said the main risk for the metropolis via an article seven days ago, was that people wouldn't know how to handle problems with ash. This finalized their decision to close the airport and cancel flights out of Mexico.

"If there is an eruption, we wouldn't evacuate Mexico City," Lugo said, via CBS News. "For us the main risk is the handling of volcanic ashes."

As of Friday, the U.S. airlines canceled at least one flight at Mexico City's airport as a precautionary measure.  Four other airlines also canceled a total of 17 flights "due to climate conditions and in accordance with their own internal policies," according to the airport, via a statement.

The volcano is approximately 40 miles from the apirport which is just a few miles east of the city's center, according to the Christian Science Monitor.

The Environment Ministry is urging Mexico City Residents to stay inside whenever possible and wear dusk masks, as well as cover water supplies.

When outside, officials state that it's also important to sweep up ash and place it in plastic bags as to prevent the formation of a concrete mix that could block drains.