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Extremely heavy ashfall rained down on parts of the Caribbean
island of St Vincent on Saturday and a strong sulfur smell
enveloped communities, a day after a powerful explosion at La
Soufriere volcano uprooted the lives of thousands who evacuated
under government orders.


Caribbean volcanoes rumble to life as scientists study activity
not seen in years
Read more
Caribbean countries including Antigua and Guyana offered help by
either shipping emergency supplies or temporarily opening
borders to the roughly 16,000 evacuees fleeing ash-covered
communities.

The volcano, which last had a sizeable eruption in 1979, kept
rumbling and experts warned explosions could continue for days
or weeks. An eruption in 1902 killed about 1,600 people.

“The first bang is not necessarily the biggest bang this volcano
will give,” Richard Robertson, a geologist with the University
of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center, said at a news
conference.

Conditions worsened overnight in settlements near the volcano as
ash covered homes, cars and streets. Lush green scenery had
turned gray and gloomy, with people leaving footprints as they
walked through the soot.

The prime minister, Ralph Gonsalves, told NBC Radio, a local
station, that officials were trying to figure out how to remove
the ash.

“It’s difficult to breathe,” Gonsalves said, adding that while
the volcano’s venting had diminished, a big plume of ash and
smoke remained. “What goes up must come down.”

He asked people to remain calm and keep protecting themselves
from the coronavirus as he celebrated that no deaths or injuries
were reported after the eruption in the northern tip of St
Vincent, part of an island chain that includes the Grenadines
and is home to more than 100,000 people.

“Agriculture will be badly affected and we may have some loss of
animals and we will have to do repairs to houses, but if we have
life and we have strength, we will build it back better,
stronger, together,” he said.

Gonsalves has said it could take up to four months for life to
return to normal. About 3,200 people were staying in 78
government shelters while four empty cruise ships floated
nearby, waiting to take evacuees to nearby islands. Those
staying in shelters were tested for Covid-19, and anyone testing
positive would be taken to an isolation center.

The first explosion occurred on Friday morning, a day after the
government ordered mandatory evacuations based on warnings from
scientists who noted seismic activity before dawn on Thursday
that meant magma was on the move close to the surface.

An ash column burst more than 33,000ft into the sky. Lightning
crackled through the still-towering cloud late on Friday.

The ash forced the cancellation of flights and poor visibility
limited evacuations in some areas. Officials warned that
Barbados, St Lucia and Grenada could see light ashfall as the
4,003ft volcano continued to rumble. The majority of ash was
expected to head north-east into the Atlantic ocean.

La Soufriere had an effusive eruption in December, prompting
experts from around the region to analyze the formation of a new
volcanic dome and changes to its crater lake, among other things.

The eastern Caribbean has 19 live volcanoes, including two
underwater near the island of Grenada. One of those, Kick ’Em
Jenny, has been active in recent years. But the most active
volcano of all is Soufriere Hills in Montserrat. It has erupted
continuously since 1995, razing the capital, Plymouth, and
killing at least 19 people in 1997.

https://www.theguardian.com/world/2021/apr/10/st-vincent-volcano- heavy-ashfall-clouds-evacuation-efforts-on-caribbean-island
 

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