KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent – La Soufrière volcano fired a tremendous amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the largest explosive eruption since volcanic activity began on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent late last week for those who refused to evacuate.
Experts called it a “giant explosion” that created pyroclastic currents on the volcano’s south and southwest flanks.
“It destroys everything in its way,” Erouscilla Joseph, director of the University of the West Indies seismic research center, told The Associated Press. “Anyone who did not pay attention to the evacuation must get out immediately.”
There were no immediate reports of injuries or fatalities, but government officials tried to respond to the latest outbreak, which was even bigger than the first outbreak on Friday morning. About 16,000 people living in communities near the volcano were evacuated Thursday by order of the government, but an unknown number remained behind and refused to move.
Richard Robertson of the seismic research center told local NBC Radio that the old and new dome of the volcano had been destroyed and a new crater had formed. He said the pyroclastic currents destroyed everything that got in their way.
“Everything that was there, human, animal, everything … they are gone,” he said. “And it’s a terrible thing to say.”
Joseph said the last explosion was equivalent to that in 1902, which killed about 1,600 people. The volcano last erupted in 1979. Ashes from the ongoing explosions have fallen on Barbados and other nearby islands.
A government minister who toured the northeast of the island on Sunday said he saw an estimated two or three dozen people in the Sandy Bay community alone, prompting Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves to urge people to leave.
“It is time you left,” he said. “It is dangerous.”
Emergency management officials warned that they would arrest anyone detained in the red zone without police permission, whether residents or not. Communities in the red zone are the ones closest to the volcano.
Two young men, Codrian Simmons and Rashon Charles, were commended for their courage as they helped evacuate 115 people from vulnerable communities.
“The monstrous power of this volcano was an alien experience,” Simmons told the AP, adding that the experience was traumatic and that people in shelters are asking for help and supplies, including water, dry goods, bedding and toiletries. “It’s heartbreaking!”
Persistent volcanic activity has threatened water and food supplies, forcing the government to drill for fresh water and distribute it via trucks.
“We cannot put tarpaulins over a river,” said Garth Saunders, minister for the island’s water and sanitation authorities, pointing out the impossibility of protecting current water sources from persistent ash.
He told NBC Radio that officials are also trying to set up water distribution points.
Meanwhile, Gonsalves said government officials will meet on Monday afternoon to discuss food issues.
Deputy Prime Minister Montgomery Daniel told the radio station that the damage was great in the northeast of the island, which he toured on Sunday. Forests and farms were destroyed, coconut, breadfruit, mango and sauerkraut trees as well as plantain and banana crops destroyed.
“What I saw was terrible indeed,” he said.
Cots, tents, water tanks and other basic supplies flooded into St. Vincent as surrounding nations rushed to help those affected by the eruptions. At least four empty cruise ships swam nearby, waiting to take evacuees to other islands that have agreed to temporarily accept them, including Antigua and Grenada. However, Gonsalves said he expected his government could cancel the cruise lines as the vast majority of people appear to be staying in St. Vincent for the time being.
The only people evacuated from St. Vincent by cruise ship are 136 farm workers who are part of a seasonal farming program and were stranded on the island. The group was scheduled to fly to Canada, but their flight was canceled due to the explosion on Friday. You arrived in St. Lucia on Saturday and will fly to Canada from there.
Gonsalves told NBC Radio on Sunday that his government will do everything it can to help those forced to leave their homes in ash-filled communities.
“It’s a huge operation ahead of us,” he said. “It’s going to be expensive, but I don’t want us to have a small pinch … it will go a long way.”
Gonsalves said it could take four months for life to return to normal in St. Vincent, part of a chain of islands that includes the Grenadines. The majority of the 100,000 residents live in St. Vincent.
Among them is Ranique Chewitt, a 32-year-old salesman who lives in South Rivers, southeast of the volcano.
He didn’t have to evacuate, but is worried about his health and water supply and has not left the house since the first outbreak on Friday morning: “I get breathless from the dust and I’m inside.”
The pandemic is also making response efforts difficult. At least 14 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the eruptions began on Friday, and everyone who goes to animal shelters is being tested. Those who test positive are sent to isolation centers. More than 3,700 people are housed in 84 government accommodations.
There are 19 living volcanoes in the Eastern Caribbean, 17 of them on 11 islands. The remaining two are underwater near Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny that has been active in recent years. The most active volcano of all is the Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, devastating the capital, Plymouth, and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
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Coto reports from San Juan, Puerto Rico
