Threat of volcanic eruption on St. Vincent forces evacuation

[Stevicus]

Threat Of Volcanic Eruption Forces Residents To Flee St. Vincent : NPR

A volcano on the eastern Caribbean island of St. Vincent is threatening to erupt, triggering a mandatory emergency evacuation of residents who are potentially in the path of ash and lava.

The country's National Emergency Management Organization raised the island's alert level from orange to red on Thursday afternoon, after days of increased seismic activity associated with La Soufriere volcano.

"Alert level is now RED. Vessel dispatched to the Leeward side of the island to move residents in the red zone who are in harm's way," the agency said in a tweet.

Residents are being evacuated from the north east and north west of the island effective immediately, Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalvez announced in a press conference.

An estimated 16,000 people live in the red zone, with many being transported by cruise ship to nearby islands (although they have to be vaccinated for COVID).

 

[Stevicus]

I accidentally wrote "Thread" instead of "Threat" in the OP. Would a moderator be so kind as to fix it? Thank you.

 

[exchemist]

Threat Of Volcanic Eruption Forces Residents To Flee St. Vincent : NPR





An estimated 16,000 people live in the red zone, with many being transported by cruise ship to nearby islands (although they have to be vaccinated for COVID).

La Soufrière again, huh?

But you can't mess about with this one. Nuées ardentes are its speciality, I understand.
So if it goes off, you have about 3 minutes to run 10km, to escape - fat chance.

 

[Stevicus]

La Soufrière again, huh?

But you can't mess about with this one. Nuées ardentes are its speciality, I understand.
So if it goes off, you have about 3 minutes to run 10km, to escape - fat chance.

I had to look that up.

Nuée ardente | volcanism | Britannica

Nuée ardente, (French: “glowing cloud”) highly destructive, fast-moving, incandescent mass of gas-enveloped particles that is associated with certain types of volcanic eruptions. See pyroclastic flow.

 

[Estro Felino]

I accidentally wrote "Thread" instead of "Threat" in the OP. Would a moderator be so kind as to fix it? Thank you.

You can edit it yourself.
There is the option "edit title"

 

[Twilight Hue]

Hopefully volcanic activity will be low this year.

 

[Stevicus]

You can edit it yourself.
There is the option "edit title"

Thanks, I didn't see that. It looks like someone already changed it.

 

[exchemist]

Hopefully volcanic activity will be low this year.

I'm not aware of any reason to expect that.

(There's a nice Hawaiian one going on in Iceland at the moment. A gentle fissure eruption, with small lava fountains. This fissure system apparently tends to erupt every 800 years or so and one was due. The bad news is they tend to go on for about 2 centuries once they start, and it is not far from Reykjavik, especially the airport. If the lava goes in that direction it may eventually pose a problem.)

 

[Stevicus]

St. Vincent seeks water, funds as volcano keeps erupting (apnews.com)

KINGSTOWN, St. Vincent (AP) — Leaders of volcano-wracked St. Vincent said Tuesday that water is running short as heavy ash contaminates supplies, and they estimated that the eastern Caribbean island will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the eruption of La Soufriere.

Between 16,000 to 20,000 people have been evacuated from the island’s northern region, where the exploding volcano is located, with more than 3,000 of them staying at more than 80 government shelters.

Dozens of people stood in lines on Tuesday for water or to retrieve money sent by friends and family abroad. Among those standing in one crowd was retired police officer Paul Smart.

“The volcano caught us with our pants down, and it’s very devastating,” he said. “No water, lots of dust in our home. We thank God we are alive, but we need more help at this moment.”

Prime Minister Ralph Gonsalves said in a press conference on local station NBC Radio that St. Vincent will need hundreds of millions of dollars to recover from the eruption but did not give any details.

He added that no casualties have been reported since the first big blast from the volcano early Friday. “We have to try and keep that record,” he said. Gonsalves said some people have refused to leave communities closest to the volcano and urged them to evacuate.

Falling ash and pyroclastic flows have destroyed crops and contaminated water reservoirs. Garth Saunders, minister of the island’s water and sewer authority, noting that some communities have not yet received water.

“The windward (eastern) coast is our biggest challenge today,” he said during the press conference of efforts to deploy water trucks. “What we are providing is a finite amount. We will run out at some point.”

The prime minister said people in some shelters need food and water, and he thanked neighboring nations for shipments of items including cots, respiratory masks and water bottles and tanks. In addition, the World Bank has disbursed $20 million to the government of St. Vincent as part of an interest-free catastrophe financing program.

Adam Billing, a retired police officer who lived and tended to his crops on land near the volcano, said he had more than 3 acres of plantains, tannias, yams and a variety of fruits and estimates he lost more than $9,000 worth of crops.

“Everything that (means) livelihood is gone. Everything,” said Billing, who was evacuated. “We have to look at the next couple of months as it’s not going to be a quick fix from the government.”

The volcano, which had seen a low-level eruption since December, experienced the first of several major explosions on Friday morning, and volcanologists say activity could continue for weeks.

Another explosion was reported Tuesday morning, sending another massive plume of ash into the air. It came on the anniversary of the 1979 eruption, the last one produced by the volcano until Friday morning. A previous eruption in 1902 killed some 1,600 people.

“It’s still a pretty dangerous volcano,” said Richard Robertson with the University of the West Indies’ Seismic Research Center. “It can still cause serious damage.”

No casualties reported, as of yet.