KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) – La Soufriere volcano released an enormous amount of ash and hot gas early Monday in the largest explosive eruption since the start of volcanic activity on St. Vincent in the eastern Caribbean at the end of last week, with officials worried about the lives of those who refused to evacuate.
Experts called it a “huge explosion” that generated pyroclastic flows on the southern and southwestern flanks of the volcano.
“It destroys everything in its path,” Erouscilla Joseph, director of the Seismic Research Center at the University of the West Indies, told the Associated Press. “Anyone who did not consider the evacuation must leave immediately.”
There were no immediate reports of injuries or deaths, but government officials were struggling to respond to the latest eruption, which was even larger than the first eruption on Friday morning. About 16,000 people living in communities near the volcano were evacuated on Thursday under government orders, but an unknown number were left behind and refused to move.
Richard Robertson, along with the seismic research center, told local NBC Radio that the old and new volcano domes had been destroyed and a new crater had been created. He said the pyroclastic flows would have destroyed everything in their path.
“Everything was there, man, animal, everything … they’re gone,” he said. “And it’s a terrible thing to say.”
Joseph said that the last explosion is equivalent to the one that took place in 1902 and killed about 1,600. The volcano last erupted in 1979. Ash from the ongoing explosions fell on Barbados and other nearby islands.
Ongoing volcanic activity threatened to supply water and food, with the government having to drill fresh water and distribute it by truck.
“We cannot put the tarpaulin over a river,” said Garth Saunders, the island’s water and sewer authority minister, referring to the impossibility of trying to protect current water sources from the ongoing ash.
He told NBC Radio that officials are also trying to set up water distribution points.
Meanwhile, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said government officials were meeting Monday afternoon to discuss food supply difficulties.
Cots, tents, water tanks and other basic supplies were flooded in St. Vincent, while nearby nations rushed to help those affected by the eruptions. At least four empty cruise ships were floating nearby, waiting to evacuate to other islands that agreed to receive them temporarily, including Antigua and Grenada. All government employees of the seaport were asked to report
Gonsalves told NBC Radio on Sunday that his government will do everything possible to help those forced to abandon their homes in ash-filled communities.
“It’s a huge operation we’re facing,” he said. “It’s going to be expensive, but I don’t want to raise money … it’s going to be a long way.”
Gonsalves said it could take four months for life to return to normal in St. Louis. Vincent, part of an island chain that includes the Grenadines. Most of the 100,000 inhabitants live in St. Vincent.
The pandemic also complicates response efforts. At least 14 new cases of COVID-19 have been reported since the eruptions began on Friday and all those going to shelters are being tested. Those who give positive results are taken to isolation centers. More than 3,700 people are in 84 government shelters.
The eastern Caribbean has 19 living volcanoes, 17 of which are on 11 islands. The other two are located underwater near Grenada, including one called Kick ‘Em Jenny which has been active in recent years. The most active volcano of all is Soufriere Hills in Montserrat, which has erupted continuously since 1995, destroying the capital Plymouth and killing at least 19 people in 1997.
___
Coto reported from San Juan, Puerto Rico